Polk County
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Polk County Itemizer-Observer • March 22, 2017 7A
JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer
Weaving instructor Lois Olund shows Colin Linford the photo of him posing with his finished weaving project as a beard on Thursday at Kings Valley Charter School.
Craft weaves more than rugs
Ancient art sparks creativity, storytelling, learning at Kings Valley Charter School
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
K
ING VALLEY —
Colin Linford didn’t
know he was mak-
ing a lounging spot for a
guinea pig when the first-
grader began his pint-sized
weaving project on Thurs-
day.
His multi-colored rug is
made from strips of recy-
cled clothing and turned
out to be just the right size
for the King Valley Charter
School’s first/second-grade
class pet.
Jannet Kohanek, first/sec-
ond-grade teacher, took the
guinea pig out of his cage
and placed him on Colin’s
newly made weaving cre-
ation.
“Oh, my goodness, it’s
perfect. It’s a perfect rug for
a pig,” she said to her excit-
ed class. “It could be a flying
carpet for a pig.”
Then she asked her class
to dream up wild travels for
the class mascot, who set-
tled calmly on Colin’s desk.
“You think we could write
an amazing fairy tale about
the adventures the pig goes
on its flying carpet?” Ko-
hanek asked.
Colin and his classmates
have been participating in a
two-part gardening project,
half the time spent with gar-
dening teacher Lua Siegel
making birdhouses and the
other with Lois Olund, the
school’s boost reading pro-
gram coordinator.
Olund also owns a farm
nearby raising sheep and al-
pacas, and has been teach-
ing spinning and weaving
classes at her farm for sev-
eral years.
Last year, she brought a
kid-version of that to Kings
Valley — teaching students
about wool harvesting and
spinning.
The weaving activities are
a continuation of that.
“This is a follow-up to the
fiber art project from last
year,” said Robert Siegel,
with the Benton County
Cultural Coalition, which
helps pay for the project.
“Kids understand a lot more
about where their clothing
comes from.”
Next time someone asks
them where do rugs come
from, they won’t say K-Mart,
he said. They’ll say animals.
“Being an educator — re-
tired educator — I really ap-
preciate that,” Siegel added.
Siegel visited the first-
and second-grade session
on Thursday to observe and
take photos on behalf of the
coalition.
Funding was provided in
part by the Oregon Cultural
Trust, one of more than a
dozen projects selected by
the coalition.
The weaving classes focus
on art, but also recycling.
Olund said the 80 stu-
dents in the first- through
sixth-grade participating are
using recycled clothing on
their projects. Any extra bits
of strings and scraps are
placed outside for birds to
use as nesting material.
“Nothing goes to waste,”
Olund said.
She has her younger stu-
dents working on small lap
looms, just the perfect size
for a doll blanket — or
guinea pig rug, as the case
may be.
Clayton Warren finished
his fourth weaving Thurs-
day.
Warren, who sat on a
chair against the wall, con-
centrated on his work,
weaving the fabric over and
under the strings, pulling it
tight at the end.
“I’m making a blanket,”
he said. “A small one for a
stuffed animal, a lamb.”
Older students graduate
to tabletop looms. The old-
est have a chance to use
bigger floor looms. No two
unfinished works look the
same.
“I have begged and bor-
rowed looms from everyone
JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer
As snug as a guinea pig on a rug, the KVSC first- and second-grade class mascot rests comfortably on a woven rug.
I know,” Olund said.
In addition to the hands-
on training, Olund provided
a little history about weav-
ing, which archeologists say
is a surprisingly old craft,
dating to 15,000 years ago.
“People lived in caves and
had animal skins to wrap
themselves. When they
wanted to move somewhere,
they could always find a
cave, so what you do think
they did?” Olund explained
in a teacherly fashion. “They
started weaving branches
and placed the animal skins
on top of that. They think
that the first weaving might
have been for housing.”
The project ends this
week, but students with in-
terest in the art can contin-
ue.
“After spring break, we
will be doing a group proj-
ect for the (school) auction,”
Olund said. “They are just
volunteering, whichever
ones want to come weave
on the big loom, I’ll have it
ready.”
Photo courtesy of Kings Valley Charter School/ for Itemizer-Observer
Students work on projects on larger looms in the weaving room in the KVCS gym dur-
ing the 10-week project split between learning to weave and make birdhouses.
JOLENE GUZMAN / Itemizer-Observer
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Lois Olund talks to a student about which scraps of ma-
terial she should use on her next project.
The KVCS weaving and birdhouse projects also focused
on how to recycle. Students used recycled clothing.
No two projects looked the same as students were able
to pick from a large selection of recycled material.