student - artist - curator - weaver - visible mending
Textile & Fiber Arts
I have been passionate about textile and fiber arts, history, and culture since I was a child.
I am now expanding my passion for textile arts, beyond my personal practice, and professional exhibit curation, through local grants, workshop offerings, textile exhibits, and more.
Textile Grants 🧵 Fiber Exhibits 🧶 Recent Works
Follow my Sustainable Spinster account for updates on my textile projects, recent textile and fiber arts courses, and general love of textile and fiber arts wherever I am.
I am offering beginner-level Textile Repair & Care workshops in the Finger Lakes region.
My first series of workshops were funded through a Neighborhood Mini-Grant from Sustainable Finger Lakes, and hosted at the Ulysses Philomathic Library during the winter of 2025.
If you’d like me to teach Textile Repair & Care programs in your community space, let’s connect!
Leather Care & Repair - Mending with Sashiko - Felting Repair for Sweaters - Clothing Swaps - Minor Mends
Upcoming Workshops
I’m offering Leather Care & Repair, Beginner Sashiko Mending, and Felting for Sweater Repair programs across the Finger Lakes.
Please connect if you’re interested in hosting one of these workshops at your space!
Leather Care & Conditioning@ Tburg Library Repair Cafe
Join us at the Ulysses Philomathic Library in Trumansburg on Saturday May 16th for the spring Repair Cafe!
I'll be there with leather conditioning materials, and welcome folks to bring their own items. You'll need at least an hour and a half to process your item fully, so plan accordingly.
Participants will be introduced to the basic materials needed for leather care (saddle soap, horsehair brush, leather conditioner, wax thread). When cared for correctly, leather items can last decades. The items needed for leather care are affordable, and the process easy to do at home. Please note that this workshop does include use of water and soap, dress accordingly.
Please bring 1-2 clothing items from your own closet for repair. This workshop is specifically for “glove tanned leather” (the shiny leather) regularly used for handbags, belts, bracelets, sandals, and boots, we will not be covering how to care for fur or suede in this program. This is ONLY for 100% leather, the processes used to preserve leather cannot be used on “pleather” or other plastic-based substitutes. If you aren’t sure if your item would work for this program, please contact zvannostrand@gmail.com beforehand and share pictures of your item.
5/16 - Saturday - 10-2pm (Drop-in, plan for 1 ½ hours), no pre-registration
Recent Programs
MENDING YOUR CLOSET
AVAILABLE WORKSHOPS
Explore my recent textile & fiber grant projects
Textile Exhibit Curation
Art of Wampum
On display November 2021, CAP ArtSpace, Tompkins Center for History & Culture
Lead curator: Zoë Van Nostrand, Rebecca Doyle as assistant
Collaborators: The History Center in Tompkins County, Rich Hamell (reproduction wampum belt weaver)
The Art of Wampum was a month long display in the CAP ArtSpace at the Tompkins Center for History & Culture in November 2021 showcasing replica wampum belts woven by Rich Hamell of the Seneca Art & Culture Center at Ganondagan, and wampum inspired prints by Brandon Lazore (Onondaga Nation) and Bruce King (Oneida Nation) exploring the histories and meanings captured in the traditional belt designs and the historic events they symbolize.
The exhibit included reproduction wampum belts woven by Rich Hamell, an interactive weaving station designed by Zoë Van Nostrand, modern artistic wampum interpretations by Brandon Lazore (Onondaga), and essays about each historic belt co-researched and written by Zoë Van Nostrand and student-intern Rebecca Doyle.
Unfolding: A Timeline of Sexual Assault Activism in Tompkins County
On Display May & June 2022, CAP ArtSpace, Tompkins Center for History & Culture
Lead curator: Zoë Van Nostrand, Rebecca Doyle as assistant, Lyn Staack (Advocacy Center)
Collaborators: Advocacy Center of Tompkins County, The History Center in Tompkins County
'Unfolding: A Timeline of Sexual Assault Activism in Tompkins County' was a 2022 exhibit featuring Clothesline Project artwork by local survivors of sexual and domestic/relationship abuse displayed alongside a timeline of victim/survivor support and prevention efforts in Tompkins County from the 1970's to the present day.
The exhibit included a selection from the “Clothesline” items designed by survivors of sexual assault lent from the public collection of the Advocacy Center, a timeline highlighting milestones in sexual assault activism and services in Tompkins County from the 1970s to today researched and designed by Zoë Van Nostrand and student worker Rebecca Doyle, and an interactive window loom weaving activity.