Presenters & Instructors

Sam Hamlin is working as a fellow with the Community Farm Alliance through the Highlander Center for Research and Education’s Appalachian Transition Fellowship program. She has a background in education and community organizing and is completing a degree in Adult Education at North Carolina State University. She is excited to be working with Fibershed and the Community Farm Alliance on a project mapping the fiber and textile value-chain in eastern Kentucky, which will hopefully be a helpful resource for Kentucky fiber farmers and textile entrepreneurs.

Amy Judd is the Berea College Crafts Weaving Supervisor. Working at Berea College has allowed her to combine the art of designing and weaving with the production of woven products. Through the Berea College labor program, she teaches students who major in other areas beside the arts to be actively engaged in the designing, weaving and production of woven items that are sold locally and nationally. By introducing new materials that are sustainable to today’s markets brings together various majors and ideas. This inclusive process of weaving when paralleled with the marketing aspects of these items allows the students to see the complete cycle. Amy holds a BA Degree in Art Education K-12.

Lisa L. Kriner is a Professor of Studio Art at Berea College in Kentucky where she teaches all levels of fiber arts, Appalachian weaving, and printmaking. She earned her BS in Textile Technology at North Carolina State University and her MFA in Fibers at The University of Kansas. Kriner’s personal fiber art visually explores the formation of identity through tensions between being rooted in community and the desire for personal movement and freedom. Her art is shown nationally, in solo, invitational, and juried exhibitions and appears online, The Fiberarts Design Book #7, published by Lark Books and Soil and Culture, edited by E. Landa and C. Feller.

Michael Lewis began full-time farming in 2010 and, after supporting local farmer’s market and community supported agriculture efforts throughout 2011, founded America’s first Veteran Oriented food security organization, The Growing Warriors Project, in 2012. In 2013, Michael was a celebrated recipient of Kentucky’s Local Food Hero Award, an honor granted by Seed Capital Kentucky and the Kentucky Department of Agriculture to exceptional individuals who promote local, farm-fresh food grown in Kentucky. At the close of 2014, Yahoo lauded Michael as one of eight people who “Made our World a Better Place.” Compassionate and unfaltering, Michael’s impact is undeniable—even a brief conversation will show that his vision is contagious and will, as we work together, bring about the growth and change that Kentucky, the U.S., and our good green Earth so markedly needs.

Kacie Lynn is an alpaca farmer, fiber artist, educator, and sustainable textile advocate. She offers a first hand glimpse into homesteading and fiber farming by facilitating learning experiences for people of all ages through sharing the process of growing, designing, and creating a variety of fiber-related goods.

Will Tarleton of Tennessee Grown LLC. And Tennessee Hemp Industries Association will be talking about preparing fields for planting hemp, using hemp as a value added farm product, sourcing hemp fiber from small farms for the developing textile industry, and using shared regional resources for post harvest storage and processing.