Introduction
The Sow to Sew Project
The Sow to Sew Project is a three-year initiative spanning Fall 2023 to Fall 2026 made possible by a generous $500,000 donation from The Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation. The project has helped establish NSCAD University as a centre for sustainable fashion, textiles and associated craft practices in Canada. Through NSCAD’s Textiles/Fashion and Jewellery departments, in connection with the Alfoldy Craft Institute, the project supports research and opportunities for studio practice exploring questions of sustainability. The core objective of the Sow to Sew Project is to disseminate knowledge and convene a public conversation about sustainability in fashion, textiles and associated craft practices at NSCAD, while supporting students working in this field.
The project works towards this objective through the following facets: providing bursaries and scholarships to students in textiles/fashion; providing students with employment and research opportunities in sustainable craft; hosting the Sow to Sew Speakers’ Series featuring visiting professional artists; welcoming artists-in-residence during the summer semester; and helping to build capacity in NSCAD’s Textiles/Fashion Department. The project will culminate with a symposium in Fall 2026.
The Sow to Sew Project Working Group is composed of faculty members from the Craft Division who practice and research slow and circular fashion, the link between agriculture and textiles/fashion, and sustainability in craft.
Sow to Sew Working Group faculty members: Leesa Hamilton and Gary Markle from Fashion, Jennifer Green and Nora Renick Rinehart from Textiles, and Rebecca Hannon from Jewellery and Metalsmithing. Project Coordinator (staff): Valérie Frappier
The Sow to Sew Namesake:
The namesake of this project cites the first Sow to Sew Conference, “Sow to Sew: Reimagining the relationship between textiles, fashion and agriculture in Nova Scotia,” which took place over two days on NSCAD’s campus in Halifax and in Lunenburg on September 27-28, 2013. The conference was initiated by NSCAD faculty members Robin Muller, Frances Dorsey and Gary Markle from the Textiles/Fashion program.
The 2023-2026 Sow to Sew Project takes inspiration from the questions around sustainability and circularity posed during the initial Sow to Sew Conference and seeks to grapple with these issues and how they have evolved over a decade later.
Impact on Students
From 2024 to 2026, the gift is providing $50,000 in bursaries to undergraduate students in the Textiles/Fashion BFA program and $40,000 in entrance scholarships to MFA students practicing in this field. The gift has also supported NSCAD’s Art Factory with $50,000 to continue its Fashion Hacking Project with the MacPhee Centre for Creative Learning and expand community engagement in fashion/textiles with new community partners. The Art Factory provides NSCAD students with training, employment and internships in partnership with community organizations.
The gift also awarded a total of $9,000 in juried prizes to student designers who participated in NSCAD’s year-end 2024 Fashion Show and 2025 Fashion Show. The prizes recognized excellence across key areas of design: sustainability in design, excellence in material exploration, and outstanding innovation in design concept and execution.
In 2025, the project inaugurated the Sustainability in Craft Research Grants and has since awarded $15,000 to the student recipients of the grants. Learn more about the students’ research projects below.
Beyond the Campus
The project has provided students with meaningful opportunities to present their work internationally at notable industry events. In June 2024, individual travel bursaries were awarded to ten students in the Jewellery and Metalsmithing program to attend and present their work at the Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG) Conference in San Diego, California, under faculty Rebecca Hannon’s lead.
In September 2024, thanks to faculty Leesa Hamilton’s mentorship, the project facilitated three student fashion interns who worked with Summer 2024 Artist-in-Residence Marie Webb to attend and support the premiere of Webb’s fashion collection at New York Fashion Week.
Visiting Artists Programming
Through the Sow to Sew Speakers’ Series and the Summer Artist Residency program, the project hosts visiting artists practicing in the field of craft on campus, enriching students’ learning experience and promoting knowledge-sharing. Their visits and interactions with NSCAD’s students, faculty and staff are core components towards the project’s research, exploration and dissemination of craft knowledge.
Sow to Sew Speakers’ Series
Through its public speakers’ series, the project hosts impactful visiting artists on NSCAD’s campus who practice in the field of sustainable fashion and textiles in Mi’kma’ki and beyond. During their visits, speakers deliver a public talk and consult with NSCAD students in their studios or classrooms to maximize opportunities for engagement. Through its curated program, the Sow to Sew Speakers’ Series has considered the following themes: sustainability in textiles/fashion and material culture, craft entrepreneurship, a maker’s transition from early to mid-career, and land-based practice.o D
- 2025-2026 Academic Year
- WHEN: May 13, 2026 6:00 pm
- LOCATION: Treaty Space Gallery, 1887 Granville St.
- 2025-2026 academic year
- WHEN: 12:00 p.m., Wednesday, February 11, 2026
- LOCATION: Treaty Space Gallery, 1887 Granville St.
- 2025-2026 academic year
- WHEN: 12:00 p.m., Thursday, October 16, 2025
- LOCATION: The Institute, 1871 Granville St.
- 2025-2026 academic year
- WHEN: 12:00 p.m., Wednesday, September 17, 2025
- LOCATION: The Institute, 1871 Granville St.
- 2024-2025 academic year
- WHEN: 12:00 p.m., Wednesday, March 12, 2025
- LOCATION: Treaty Space Gallery, 1887 Granville St.
- 2024-2025 academic year
- WHEN: 1:00 p.m., Wednesday, February 5, 2025
- LOCATION: The Institute, 1871 Granville St.
- 2024-2025 academic year
- WHEN: 12:00 p.m., Thursday, November 21, 2024
- LOCATION: The Institute, 1871 Granville St.
- 2023-2024 academic year
- WHEN: 1:00 p.m., Monday, November 6, 2023
- LOCATION: Learning Commons, 5163 Duke St.
SUMMER ARTIST RESIDENCY PROGRAM
Sustainability in Craft Research Grants
The Sustainability in Craft Research Grants were initiated to support NSCAD students in integrating greater sustainability into their craft practices while building on their research and coursework. Awarded through the Craft Division, this initiative aims to highlight new approaches to material sourcing, craft-based research, local ecology and economies, and sustainable making.
The juried grants were piloted as individual $1,000 research grants in Winter 2025. Following an open call for proposals, these were awarded to five undergraduate students.
Winter 2025 recipients: Teresa Jolliffe (textile dyeing and printing), Donna Kim (printmaking), Jessie Malott (textiles), Cameryn Mattie (ceramics) and Rhynn Winstead (textiles/fashion).
Winter 2025 Grant Recipients:
Teresa Jolliffe (textile dyeing and printing)
“Watered Down: Nature Dyeing with the Freshwater and Biodiversity of Nova Scotia”
Supervising faculty member: Nora Renick Rinehart
Jessie Malott (textiles)
“Sustainability: Activities in NSCAD’s Craft Departments to Improve Reuse of Waste Materials”
Supervising faculty member: Leesa Hamilton
Cameryn Mattie (ceramics)
“Sustainable Material Research & Functional Tableware”
Supervising faculty member: Rory MacDonald
After a successful pilot of the grants during the Winter 2025 semester, the grants were expanded to run over the full Fall 2025-Winter 2026 academic year by offering five $2,000 grants through an open call for proposals. In this second year, three grants were reserved for undergraduate students and two for graduate students.
Fall 2025-Winter 2026 Grant Recipients: Rhonda Ferguson (ceramics & textiles, undergraduate), Karina Howard (textiles & fashion, undergraduate), Baily Smith (textiles & natural dyes, undergraduate), Eunseon Park (jewellery & metalsmithing, graduate) and Gillian Richards (textiles, graduate).
Fall 2025-Winter 2026 Grant Recipients:
Karina Howard (textiles & fashion)
“Creature Comforts”: Research project on Nova Scotian wool
Supervising faculty member: Jennifer Green
Baily Smith (textiles & natural dyes)
“Mud Lakes”: Natural dyeing with mud samples from across Mi’kma’ki
Supervising faculty member: Jennifer Green
Eunseon Park (jewellery & metalsmithing)
“Reimagining Preciousness: Sustainable Materials for Art Jewellery in the Age of Ecological Crisis”
Supervising faculty member: Rebecca Hannon
SEPTEMBER 2026: SOW TO SEW SYMPOSIUM & FINAL EXHIBITION
- WHEN: Friday September 18, 2026, 10 am – 5 pm
- LOCATION: NSCAD University, Fountain Campus (5163 Duke St), Halifax, NS
- WHEN: September 15-26, 2026
- Opening reception: September 14, 5:30-7 pm
- LOCATION: Anna Leonowens Gallery, 1891 Granville St, Halifax, NS
- Gallery hours: Tuesday-Friday, 11 am – 5 pm; Saturday 12 – 4 pm
- Curator: Amanda Blake
aBOUT
The Sow to Sew Symposium and related exhibition “Sustain-abilities: Craft at the Edge of the Earth” will conclude the Sow to Sew Project in September 2026.
Presented as an immersive showcase spanning the three years of the project (2023-2026), the interlinked public presentations, curated by Amanda Blake, revisit and expand upon the conversations surrounding sustainability in craft initiated throughout the project. Together, the events highlight past and present project participants, their material explorations and meaning making, tracing the complex network of relationships sown during this sustained activity.
The symposium offers an opportunity to learn about the impact of community projects during the morning roundtable discussion, and to hear how local designers bring sustainable fashion and jewelry to the marketplace in the afternoon, followed by crafting workshops. The exhibition, conceptualized as part display, part map, part workshop, highlights how NSCAD’s participating students and faculty approached the creation, research and technologies of craft from outside their dominant centres of production, attesting that sustainability is as much about skill sharing as it is about resource sharing.
Though these public presentations mark the project’s conclusion, the hope is that the sustain-abilities gained and shared will continue to evolve and benefit the broader NSCAD community far into their futures.
SOW TO SEW
SYMPOSIUM SCHEDULE
- Date: Friday September 18, 2026
- Location: NSCAD University, Fountain Campus (5163 Duke St), Halifax, NS
10:00-11:15 am
Roundtable discussion “Craft, Community & Research”
Location: Anna Leonowens Gallery, 1891 Granville St, Gallery 3 (located downstairs)
Speakers: Artists and faculty members Melinda Spooner and Leesa Hamilton with artists and students Mailey Horner and Lily Ellis who collaborated on their Art Factory: OFFSHOOTS Art Project about eelgrass restoration. Attendees will be invited to contribute embroidery to the project’s final textile during the discussion.
Moderator: Leesa Hamilton, Assistant Professor, Fashion
11:30 am-12:00 pm
Materials Exchange
Location: Anna Leonowens Gallery, 1891 Granville St, Gallery 3 (located downstairs)
Bring your unwanted craft materials to swap and exchange with other folks’ craft materials! Each person is invited to bring one item (extra fabric, clothing, craft book, tool, dye, etc.) and to leave with a new item, encouraging discussion and skill sharing between attendees.
12:00-1:15 pm
Lunch Break
1:15-2:30 pm
Panel talk “Craft in the Marketplace”
Location: The FAB, 1875 Granville St
Speakers: fashion designer Maggie MacCormick of Daytime People, retailer Hannah Sears, founder of Slowly Slowly, and jeweler Sarah Sears of Sarah Sears Jewelry
Moderator: Amie Cunningham, founder and creative director of Thief&Bandit
2:30-3:00 pm
Break
3:00-4:30 pm
Drop-in Mending Workshops
Location: Anna Leonowens Gallery, 1891 Granville St, Gallery 3 (located downstairs)
Textile darning & mending workshop led by artist Rhynn Winstead and jewelry mending workshop led by artist Eunseon Park. Drop-in any time between 3 to 4:30 pm to participate, materials provided. Learn a new technique or bring your own projects to work on.