This workshop will explore the concept of the grid as a visual and conceptual framework, expanded in terms of time, place, and gender. Jessica Braum, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Art History, will deliver a talk drawing on her dissertation research and her work as an LCDSS extern curating a digital exhibition on the theme of the global grid. Her presentation will examine the grid’s significance in modernity, with a particular emphasis on its material, cultural, and aesthetic manifestations in a global context. Works by artists such as Kim Lim, Yolanda Laucito, Otti Berger, Annie Albers, Agnes Martin, Nasreen Mohamedi, and Mary Lee Bendolph will illustrate the varied approaches to and interpretations of the grid across different mediums and cultural frameworks.
The second part of the workshop will provide participants with a hands-on experience of creating their own woven artwork using small, rigid heddle looms. Led by Meghan Kelly, Assistant Professor of Textile Design at Jefferson University, this session will introduce participants to the basics of weaving, including how to create and interpret a draft—a diagram representing the threading, tie-up and treadling for a weave. The weaving session will highlight the tactile and material possibilities of the grid in an arts and crafts context, encouraging participants to reflect on its theoretical and historical dimensions while producing a material representation of this enduring structure.
By engaging with both the theoretical and practical dimensions of the grid, this workshop aims to offer a nuanced understanding of its significance across art history and craft traditions, while fostering creativity and dialogue among participants.