Homer Residency 2026 - The Workshops
Sacredness of Place is a community-based project that invited participants to reflect on what feels sacred in their lives and landscapes. Wisconsin-based sculptor and installation artist Rebecca Carlton asked Homer community members what experiences, senses, and places shaped their connection to the Kenai Peninsula as home. In response, artists and community members from the southern Kenai Peninsula and beyond created clay sculptures, which were installed nestled in the canopy of alders at the Pratt Museum. The sculptures were formed in raku clay and pit-fired at the Homer Council on the Arts, with surfaces colored using natural and found materials such as salt, seaweed, banana peels, coffee grounds, and metal oxides. Hung on cotton cord, the works are intentionally ephemeral and will gradually weather and return to the earth over time.
Sacredness of Place
Relief Printing on Fabric Using Upcycled Materials
In this workshop, participants created their own fabric patterns using upcycled materials: “Buy Nothing” is a big in communities that want to buy less, and create a more sustainable lifestyle. Artists are breathing new life into upcycled clothing, bags, and fabrics, reimagining them into wearable or decorative artworks.
In this 3-hour workshop led by artist Caroline Anderson, in partnership with the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies, we used upcycled materials to create bold relief prints on fabric. Participants chose their own project format: a t-shirt, a fabric bag, a fabric placemat, anything fabric related! We used the relief printing method together with fabric inks to create beautiful new fabric designs.
What participants learned: We carved designs into upcycled materials like foam trays and other plastics. We learned to mix and roll ink to the proper consistency for best results. We printed our designs on fabrics or clothing of participants’ choice.
Monoprinting on Paper Using Upcycled Materials and Color Transparency
In this 3 hour workshop led by artist Elaine Miller, in partnership with the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies, participants used water-based printing inks, watercolors and crayons on plexiglass plates and an etching press to learn and experiment with mono printing techniques. They also used thin upcycled materials to create stencils on the prints. Prints were reworked with other runs through the press to experiment further with transparency of colors and unexpected combinations.
Participants used brayers to apply printing inks, or brushes and crayons to draw and paint on the plexiglass plates. Leaves and other up cycled materials were arranged and become stencils on the plate. Paper was dampened, run through the press and the resulting print was optionally added to again for a second run through the press. Transparent medium was added to the ink to learn about color combinations, and to integrate textures.
Participants took home a print on archival paper suitable for a gift or framing, and an expanded knowledge of printmaking and color.
