Bemidji Weavers Guild to Offer Hands-On Demonstrations at Watermark Art Center

Bemidji residents who stopped into Watermark Art Center on Saturday, April 18, got a rare chance to watch weaving up close and try it themselves, free and without registration. The two-hour session turned a traditional fiber craft into a hands-on stop at 505 Bemidji Ave. N., something many visitors are unlikely to see outside a studio or guild meeting.

The Bemidji Area Weavers Guild led the demonstrations from 2 to 4 p.m., with experienced local weavers guiding visitors through color-play handweaving on an 8-shaft loom, box-tape loom weaving, and inkle loom and tapestry. Watermark said attendees could participate directly, not just watch, giving the event a more practical, instructional feel than a typical gallery display.

Watermark’s listing named Annette Theroux, Carrie Jessen and Kristin Mjkrzak among the weavers involved in the demonstrations. That kind of lineup gave the public a close look at different approaches to the same craft, with multiple looms in use and multiple techniques on display in one downtown space.

The demonstrations also ran alongside the Bemidji Area Weavers Guild exhibition, Connecting Threads - Bemidji Area Weavers Guild, which was on view at Watermark from February 6 through April 25, 2026. Watermark said the guild was started by weavers eager to share their enthusiasm and expertise in fiber arts, and that the group has built a sense of belonging, developed members’ skills and united a weaving community in Northern Minnesota.

For Watermark, the event fit a broader role in downtown Bemidji arts life. The center said it has operated there since 1982 and later expanded into a 10,000-square-foot space after purchasing and renovating the former Lakeside Luekens grocery store. The building now houses four galleries, including dedicated spaces for Indigenous artwork and Bemidji State University’s ceramic and print collections, along with the kind of community programming that keeps a working arts venue active year-round.