The Red Barn Studio Museum welcomes Lisa Riley, a fiber artist from Wichita, as the Artist-in-Residence February 14-26.
Riley will spend the majority of her residency focused on fiber-based work, creating clothing and accessories from handwoven fabrics made on her rigid heddle loom. She uses Folkwear patterns as a starting point, adapting them into her own designs, combining machine sewing with hand techniques. She will also incorporate fabrics that she hand-dyed using Japanese Bengala mud dyes and explore eco-conscious approaches by reworking discarded clothing into new garments or functional work.
Throughout her stay, Riley will keep a loom set up for an ongoing community Saori weaving project. Visitors are invited to weave a few rows into a shared textile using provided materials such as fabric scraps, yarn, and found objects, or bring their own. The project follows Saori weaving principles that encourage experimentation, individuality, and community participation. Her hope is to spark curiosity: to invite others to see the possibilities hidden in familiar materials, and to appreciate the wonder of making something entirely new with our own hands. “I am curious—both about how people will respond and about what we will create together. The unknown outcome feels alive with possibility.” Lisa says.
While fiber work will be the focus of her residency, Lisa will also move between different projects and materials, working in a way that mirrors Lester Raymer’s own approach to making. A lifelong craftsperson, she has explored many mediums over the years, including ceramics, basketry, dyeing, painting, and gardening. 
Lisa studied art at the University of Northern Colorado, graduating with honors in 1985, and spent her professional career in information technology before retiring in 2017. Since then, weaving and clothing construction have become central to her practice. She sees this residency as time to slow down, focus, and reconnect with the process of letting the work unfold fully.
Visitors are encouraged to stop in, observe the process, and take part in the weaving project.
The Red Barn Studio Museum, located at 212 S. Main Street, is open Tuesday-Friday 10:00am-5:00pm and 1:00-5:00pm on Saturday and Sunday. For more information, visit redbarnstudio.org.