Saturday Open Studios at the Gardner Museum

Weaving together the themes of the Common Threads exhibition, Shane Maxwell, a Boston-based craftsman who oversees textile painting and dyeing for Boston Ballet and The Santa Fe Opera (over the summer season), will bring his textile-inspired techniques to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Maxwell’s Saturday Opens Studios will run every Saturday, starting October 13. He will also lead a hands-on Studio workshop during the Thirds Thursday event, “Social Fabrics,” on Oct. 18.

About the workshops:

While the tapestry of society has become increasingly complex, the basic principles of weaving and fiber arts have not changed. In these Saturday workshops, visitors will try their hand at working with yarn as they create non-traditional tapestries of their own.

“The emergence of tradition through repetition is an important cornerstone of culture, and links the significance of textiles in tradition to the physical act of producing them,” says Maxwell. “I hope this workshop will allow visitors to experience the emergence of patterns through simple repetition and become more aware of the patterns we follow and rely on in our everyday lives.”

Maxwell is a Boston-based craftsman with a passion for any form of art that can be worn. Most of his time is spent painting and dyeing costume fabrics for Boston Ballet and The Santa Fe Opera. Additionally, he collects natural materials and found objects to incorporate into jewelry and wearable sculpture.

The Polly Thayer Starr Artist Series enables artists in the Boston area to consider their work within the rich cultural context of the Gardner Museum and the unique legacy of the Museum’s founder, Isabella Stewart Gardner, through a structured three-month collaboration period of thought, exploration, and workshop implementation.

Polly Thayer Starr Artists design and implement programming for Saturday Open Studios and lead hands-on activities at the Museum. Maxwell’s collaboration with the Museum began in August and will conclude at the end of October.

His Saturday Open Studio workshop series will run every Saturday, starting Oct. 13 through Jan. 12, from 11 am to 4 pm. Saturday Open Studio events are included with Museum admission.

Studio activities are made possible by the Polly Thayer Starr Charitable Trust. The museum is also supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, which receives support from the State of Massachusetts and the National Endowment for the Arts. Polly Thayer Starr (1904-2006) was an accomplished artist who captured the culture and whimsy of her native Boston with a unique combination of detail, emotion, and curiosity. For more, visit the Polly Thayer Charitable Starr Trust online at www.pollythayerstarr.org.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum - a magical creation of one woman's daring vision - invites you to awaken your senses and be transported. Modeled after a Venetian palazzo, unforgettable galleries surround a luminous courtyard and are home to masters such as Rembrandt, Raphael, Titian, Michelangelo, Whistler, and Sargent. The Renzo Piano wing provides a platform for contemporary artists, musicians, and scholars, and serves as an innovative venue where creativity is celebrated in all of its forms.

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum • 25 Evans Way Boston MA 02215 • Hours: Open Daily from 11a.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursdays until 9 p.m. Closed Tuesdays. • Admission: Adults $15; Seniors $12; Students $10; Free for members, children under 18, everyone on his/her birthday, and all named “Isabella” • $2 off admission with a same-day Museum of Fine Arts, Boston ticket • For information 617 566 1401 • Box Office 617 278 5156 • www.gardnermuseum.org