Phragmites Dye Workshop — Mending the Land
Thursday, October 29, 2026 | 1-4 PM
Thursday, November 5, 2026 | 1-4 PM
Thursday, November 12, 2026 | 1-4 PM
FREE
Registration is free and prioritizes access-seeking, disabled, and underserved communities who are looking to build community and grow within the arts. The Textile Museum is committed to making this workshop accessible and barrier-free as possible. If you have already attended a Second Life Workshop, please consider opening space for new community members to access these free workshops.
In this hands-on workshop, participants will explore natural dye practices through the lens of ecological care and land-based learning. Working with Phragmites, an invasive plant species found across Ontario, participants will learn how its removal can contribute to restoring balance within local ecosystems.
Informed by research from the Sustainable Colour Lab at OCAD University, this session introduces immersion dye techniques, fibre preparation, and plant-based colour extraction. When responsibly foraged at peak bloom, Phragmites produces a vibrant green dye, demonstrating the creative potential within ecological challenges.
Participants will engage in the full process from plant material to dyed fibre, while considering approaches to ethical foraging, material lifecycles, and environmental responsibility. All plant material will be handled and disposed of in ways that prevent further spread.
This workshop emphasizes hands-on learning and invites participants to reflect on how making can support thoughtful relationships with the land.
About Second Life: Sustainable Textile Workshops
Second Life: Sustainable Textile Workshops is a series of free; sustainability focused workshops developed with the Textile Museum of Canada and contemporary local artists. The series converges ecological thinking with art-making opportunities for our community. Starting in January, each month, the Museum will bring in an artist who confronts the climate crisis by rethinking materials and reimagining textile processes, decolonial methodologies, and sustainable craft traditions. Together, artist and participants will reform reused materials to create new works of art through a variety of techniques. These textile-focused artistic mediums will include weaving, embroidery, crocheting, quilting, natural dyeing, felting, upcycled fashion, or mixed-media fiber practices.
Facilitator Bio:
Julia Rose Sutherland (She/They) is a citizen of the Mi’kmaq, Metepenagiag Nation (Red Bank, New Brunswick) and is of mixed Mi’kmaq and settler (Irish and Scottish) ancestry.
She is a storyteller, interdisciplinary artist, and educator who serves as an Associate Professor at OCAD University in Toronto, Canada, where she recently assumed the role of Chair of Material Art and Design. She is also cross-appointed to the Indigenous Visual Arts Program.
Sutherland holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Alberta College of Art + Design (now AuArts) and a Master of Fine Arts from the University at Buffalo. Her practice draws on backgrounds in studio arts, craft, and new media. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, the MacKenzie Art Gallery, the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, K Art Gallery, The New Gallery, WAAP Gallery, and 59 Rivoli in Paris, France.
Sutherland is co-director of the OCAD University Sustainable Colour Lab, alongside Nicole Collins and Lauchlan Reid. The Sustainable Colour Lab is a collaborative space and research community where artists and designers explore, create, and share knowledge in the field of material colour research.
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