Finding a Home
Going to the Tett Center in the new form that it is now, that made a big, big change. Because we weren't just a little guild anymore, we were big.
- Doreen Jeffers
For a significant portion of its history, the Kingston Handloom Weavers and Spinners was without a permanent studio. Meetings were held in members’ homes and occasionally at the Faculty Women’s Club and the Kingston Bath House by Murney Tower. Sales often took place at St. James Parish Hall, and the Guild’s guest lectures were sometimes hosted by the Kingston Frontenac Public Library. Although spinning equipment is fairly mobile, weaving looms are heavy and difficult to reassemble and, over time, the Guild’s library of weaving and spinning resources and archives became onerous to transport from house to house. In addition to these inconveniences, the 100-inch loom that was gifted to KHWS in 1973 was collecting dust in City Hall because it was too large to house elsewhere. The expanding Guild required a dedicated studio space in order to be able to continue.
In 1971, the City of Kingston purchased a waterfront building that once formed part of the nineteenth-century Morton Brewery and Distillery complex. John K. Tett, Director of Recreation for the City of Kingston, saw potential for the building to become a hub for arts and culture. The Kingston Handloom Weavers and Spinners moved into a studio on the second floor in 1976, where they had room for their 100-inch loom and other equipment. The new studio provided a space where the Guild could offer workshops and weave and spin together, activities they could not do previously.
The Guild used this studio until 2009, when the City of Kingston began a largescale renovation of the Tett Centre. In the interim, KHWS moved to Portsmouth Town Hall, where they remained until the reopening of the Tett in 2015. Susi Reinink shares her experience of the transition from the original studio to Portsmouth Town Hall, and moving back to the Tett:
Before the renovation of the Tett Centre, the City's decision to keep the Guild and other creative groups in the building was not fixed. Therefore, the Guild and other groups cooperated to convince the City of their importance and the value to hold on to their spaces in the building. The City finally decided to keep all the groups in the building and they all came back and organized a grand opening after the renovation.
While the Tett Centre was under renovation, Jackie Sylvester, Lena McPhee, and Dorothy Young, along with other members of the Guild's Board of Directors, oversaw the process of becoming an incorporated organization, creating bylaws, and working with the City of Kingston to create a studio that suited their unique needs as a fibre group. Jackie Sylvester reflects on her experience of working with the City to create the blueprint for the studio space and the challenges along the way.
In December 2014, the Kingston Handloom Weavers and Spinners returned to the newly renovated Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning. Now a group of 76 members, the Guild moved into the studio space that they still occupy today.
While designing the new studio space, the Guild received a $14,000 grant for the development of a dye station. Although many KHWS members had experience with dyeing, none of their other meeting spaces had running water or the proper facilities for working with dyes, which can be dangerous without the proper equipment. The addition of the dye station increased the types of workshops the Guild could offer and was a welcome addition for members with interest in natural and synthetic colours. Textile artist Bethany Garner, who worked on the funding application, recounts the move from Portsmouth Town Hall to the Tett Centre, and the development of the dye station.