Join Us!

Membership

We rely on our members’ diverse backgrounds and perspectives to spark innovation and creativity. We invite textile-based artists, designers, and craftspeople with skill, originality, co-operative values, and a passion for textiles to become members of our beautiful, 1200 square-foot, equipped studio located at 401 Richmond Street West in Toronto. 

Our mission is to promote, support, and facilitate innovative textile design and education in Canada. Prospective members must be committed to sharing a studio space and collaborating to sustain and grow our co-operative by participating in working groups and joint projects.

The CTSC is strongly committed to equity and diversity within its community and especially welcomes applications from Black, Indigenous, and people of colour, persons with disabilities, persons of all sexual and gender identities, and others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas and practices. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.

Members contribute towards the costs of the space and general studio supplies, and lend their skills and enthusiasm to the direction and development of our unique non-profit, artist-run co-op. 

You can also refer to our pages on F.A.Q’s and Current Members.

For more information please contact info@textilestudio.ca. 

We offer the following options:

• Yearly membership with a try-out period of up to three months

• Short-term studio rental to individuals and groups on a sliding scale

• Year-round student residencies

Memberships

We are looking for new members! Whether you are an emerging or established textile maker, you will find at CTS co-op a community of textile artists, designers and craft-makers who share a common vision of textile as a means for creative and inclusive community-building. Becoming a full member requires a yearly commitment, but we also offer monthly self-directed residencies renewable up to three months if you want to try out the studio. 

Don’t hesitate to be in touch to book a tour of the studio.

Here is what we offer:

Space and Equipment
We have a 1,200 square foot studio space equipped for screen printing (including dark room and exposure unit), heat press, natural dyeing, visual arts, felting, and sewing. Members are allocated a large shelving unit for storing tools and materials as well as other storage options depending on the type of equipment you may need to bring into the studio.

Teaching Opportunities
Whether you are an emerging artist looking to gain teaching experience and mentorship through assistantships, or you are an established textile instructor, you will find extensive teaching support at CTS. We offer member and guest-taught classes weekly, ranging from 3-hour workshops to multiple-day courses. We encourage our members to explore teaching as part of their practice and are open to discussing opportunities for creative workshops.

Professional Development
We work with local artists and practitioners to design our seasonal programming. We also regularly invite international textile artists and professionals to teach workshops, including: Dorothy Caldwell, Sarah Brownlee, Rowland Rickett, Kathy Hattori, Rebecca Burgess, India Flint, Dawn Dupree, Maxine Sutton, Yoshiko Wada, Marjoleine Dallinga, Kate Blee, Laurence Teillet, Aurore Thibout, Vanessa Mardirossian, Michelle Lowe-Holder, and many more.

Mentorship
Whether you want to learn new techniques or explore new creative venues, you’ll find a well of knowledge at CTS, with members specializing in textile activism, natural dyeing, socially just enterprise, eco-textiles, traditional block-printing, craft-making, and textile arts.

Community Building
As a co-op member, you’ll be part of sustaining and building not just a shared studio space, but a community hub that hosts various groups such as students, activists, costume designers, new textile amateurs and many more. We also have extensive ties with artistic institutions and groups such as Seneca, OCADU, TMU, ROM, and the Textile Museum.