APPRENTICESHIP SUMMARY

This textile-based apprenticeship with mentor Travis Clough will help Hale Linnet grow both their quilting practice and their connection to the local fiber arts community. Hale will refine technical skills and explore sculptural and painted elements while preparing a show with local quilters. The apprenticeship will also foster collaboration through participation in quilting circles and projects like Transmissions, including creating a quilt to be auctioned in support of the trans community. This experience emphasizes both creative development and community engagement in fiber arts.

MENTOR

Travis Clough (Westbrook, Maine)

Travis grew up in Bucksport, Maine and by his mid-20’s had moved to San Francisco. Desperately homesick, he took a quilting class hoping that would help, which sent him down an unexpected path! He moved back to Maine in 2019 and has been teaching sold-out quilting classes at Factory 3 (Portland) and Past + Future Craft Exchange (Westbrook) ever since. He hosts a monthly quilt and craft gathering called Quilt Club also at Past + Future.

“When Hale asked me to apply to the Craft Apprentice Program with them, it was a no-brainer. I admire Hale’s artistic work, their community engagement and activism. The first time they walked into my Quilt Club with a gorgeous hand-sewn, autobiographical quilt, I knew this was a person I’d love to work and collaborate with.” – Travis Clough

APPRENTICE

Hale Linnet (South Portland, Maine)

Hale Linnet (they/them) is a figurative painter and sculptor based in Maine, whose socially conscious work centers bodily autonomy, gender, pleasure, and self-excavation. Hale holds a degree in Public Health, and brings a background in community organizing and advocacy into their creative practice. Their work seeks to elevate the body as a site of liberation work, transformation, and connection.

Hale is a cofounder of the artist collective Brazen Bandits, which gathers people to make art.

“Travis is a quiltmaker and teacher whose work I first encountered at an exhibition at Space Gallery. He and I became friendly after collaborating on organizing community spaces for queer people including gatherings open to the public centering music, visual art, and sharing food. Travis is involved in quilting projects I’m inspired by such as Transmissions, which aims to support trans people through quilts. Travis embodies a core value of mine which is creative practice in community.” – Hale Linnet