Fiber Arts Artisan Demonstrations

817ArtsAlliance presents a peek into the past with a link to the present as part of the last weekend of the Happy Holidays Artisan Demonstrations at the Arlington Museum of Art. Have you ever wondered just how a cotton boll or freshly sheared wool became yarn that could be made into clothing before the advent of electrically driven machines in factories?

Come on down to the Arlington Museum of Art in Downtown Arlington this Saturday, December 27 from 10am - 4:30pm to get a glimpse of this process with demos of many of the fiber arts. Artisans will be spinning wool into yarn, crocheting, knitting and doing demo card and heddle weaving. Talk with them to find out more about their craft and perhaps you will even get a chance to try your hand at crocheting or knitting yourself.

In addition to fiber arts demonstrations, there will be a miniature painting demo and the Happy Holidays Gift Store with goods from over a dozen local artisans is open for its final weekend.

Happy Holidays Gift Store

If you haven't made it out to see the Happy Holidays Gift Store at the Arlington Museum of Art, you are missing out on a chance to find some unique presents for those hard to find people on your gift list (and the easy ones too for that matter). The artists featured are offering a plethora of hand crafted items from original artwork and hand drawn signs to ceramics and knitted items and more.

In addition, there are Artist demonstrations on Saturdays. Artist demonstrations will begin in the morning and go until 4:30 pm. This coming weekend's artists are:

Saturday, 12/20/14

Martha Howell
Mixed Media Artist - Encaustic Painting







Brad Foster
Graphic Artist - Pen & Ink Drawing

Arlington Community Band Christmas Concert

Fielder House Museum Open House

Happy Holidays Gift Market - Handmade Creations and Vintage Finds

Join in the fun this weekend in Downtown Arlington. There will be lots of great things to do and see on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2014. The Arlington Museum of Art (AMA) continues its Scenes of the Nativity holiday exhibit. The Happy Holidays Gift Store continues and is joined by almost 30 additional artisans and collectors who make up the Happy Holidays Gift Market. AMA, in conjunction with Dance Theatre Arlington, is also providing holiday entertainment in the form of singing, dancing and acting from 2-5:30 pm Sat. at the museum.

Away from the museum you will find dancing elves at the Levitt Pavilion courtesy of Dance Theatre Arlington in the late afternoon, prior to the Arlington Holiday Lights Parade which begins at 6 pm. After the parade you can watch the lighting of the Christmas tree at City Hall and visit Santa at the Levitt Pavilion.


After a fun filled Saturday in Downtown Arlington, if you wake Sunday and realize that you didn't grab enough great gifts from the local artisans and collectors at the Happy Holidays Gift Market on Saturday, come on back from 1-5 pm on Sunday, Dec. 7. Unique items from local craft people make special gifts and help support the local economy. The logos included here from some of the artists that will be at the market give you an idea of just a few of the types of fabulous finds that await you.