Diary Weaving
Nine artists. Six Months. A practice of noticing.
Featured art by Martha Bird.
Diary Weaving is a cohort-based project created and facilitated by artist Jes Reyes that explores weaving as a form of daily creative practice. Over six months, nine artists are using weaving to notice, record, and respond to their lives—one day, one gesture, and one material at a time. Like keeping a written diary, diary weaving can hold the ordinary alongside the significant. A color might capture a mood. A material might connect to a place or experience. A few rows of weaving might simply mark that we showed up to make that day. A few weavings brought a dormant creative practice back to life.
There is no single way to keep a woven diary. Throughout the project, artists have been encouraged to follow their curiosity, experiment with materials and techniques, and discover what a sustained creative practice can become.
The Cohort
Since June 2026, the Diary Weaving cohort has gathered monthly at Open Book in Minneapolis, with additional virtual gatherings and individual mentorship. Together, we have explored weaving techniques, shared works in progress, exchanged ideas and resources, and talked about the joys and challenges of maintaining a creative practice. While tapestry weaving provides a common foundation, each artist has developed their own relationship to diary weaving. Some works remain small records of individual days. Others are stitched together, accumulated into larger compositions, or transformed into sculptural forms. Artists have worked with traditional fibers as well as unexpected and found materials. What connects the work isn't a particular aesthetic or technique. It is the act of returning, noticing, experimenting, and allowing time to become visible through making.
Participating Artists
Joah Bingert
Martha Bird
Céleste Douville
Kimberly A. Laudert
Kristina Mengis
Julia Meles
Jes Reyes
Nina Robinson
Amy Wilderson
Diary Weaving: The Exhibition
This October, the cohort will come together for a group exhibition at Open Book in Minneapolis. The exhibition will share work created throughout the project and demonstrate the many directions a diary weaving practice can take—from individual tapestry works and assembled compositions to dimensional and sculptural explorations. Rather than nine artists responding to an assignment in the same way, the exhibition is an opportunity to see what happens when nine people begin with a shared question: What might we discover by returning to a creative practice again and again?
On View: October 12 - November 28, 2026
Location: Literary Commons Gallery, Open Book, 2nd floor, 1011 South Washington Avenue, Minneapolis, MN, 55415
Reception: Saturday, November 14, 12:00 PM - 2:30 PM with Artist Talk at 1 PM
About the Project
Diary Weaving was developed by Jes Reyes as an exploration of creativity, wellbeing, community, and sustained artistic practice. Participants were selected through an open application process, with priority given to older adults and people with disabilities.
Each cohort artist received a $600 participation stipend, individualized support, and funds for weaving materials and accessible equipment. The project was designed not around productivity or perfect daily attendance, but around finding ways to make creative practice sustainable within real lives.
There is no single way to keep a woven diary. Throughout the project, artists have been encouraged to follow their curiosity, experiment with materials and techniques, and discover what a sustained creative practice can become.
The Cohort
Since June 2026, the Diary Weaving cohort has gathered monthly at Open Book in Minneapolis, with additional virtual gatherings and individual mentorship. Together, we have explored weaving techniques, shared works in progress, exchanged ideas and resources, and talked about the joys and challenges of maintaining a creative practice. While tapestry weaving provides a common foundation, each artist has developed their own relationship to diary weaving. Some works remain small records of individual days. Others are stitched together, accumulated into larger compositions, or transformed into sculptural forms. Artists have worked with traditional fibers as well as unexpected and found materials. What connects the work isn't a particular aesthetic or technique. It is the act of returning, noticing, experimenting, and allowing time to become visible through making.
Participating Artists
Joah Bingert
Martha Bird
Céleste Douville
Kimberly A. Laudert
Kristina Mengis
Julia Meles
Jes Reyes
Nina Robinson
Amy Wilderson
Diary Weaving: The Exhibition
This October, the cohort will come together for a group exhibition at Open Book in Minneapolis. The exhibition will share work created throughout the project and demonstrate the many directions a diary weaving practice can take—from individual tapestry works and assembled compositions to dimensional and sculptural explorations. Rather than nine artists responding to an assignment in the same way, the exhibition is an opportunity to see what happens when nine people begin with a shared question: What might we discover by returning to a creative practice again and again?
On View: October 12 - November 28, 2026
Location: Literary Commons Gallery, Open Book, 2nd floor, 1011 South Washington Avenue, Minneapolis, MN, 55415
Reception: Saturday, November 14, 12:00 PM - 2:30 PM with Artist Talk at 1 PM
About the Project
Diary Weaving was developed by Jes Reyes as an exploration of creativity, wellbeing, community, and sustained artistic practice. Participants were selected through an open application process, with priority given to older adults and people with disabilities.
Each cohort artist received a $600 participation stipend, individualized support, and funds for weaving materials and accessible equipment. The project was designed not around productivity or perfect daily attendance, but around finding ways to make creative practice sustainable within real lives.
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund, with additional partnership and support from Open Book and the Weavers Guild of Minnesota.