CAROLA JONES, TEACHING ARTIST INDIGENOUS FASHION ARTS

Photo Taken by Esther Choi

Carola Jones, Teaching Artist
Indigenous Fashion Arts
Contact: [email protected]

Multi-media Land Artist creating Indigenous fashion using natural land-based dyes, earth pigments, hand embroidery and collage.
5th Generation Indigenous Geechee Indigo & Natural Dye Practitioner (Toisnot Tuscarora, Florida Seminole & Johns Island Geechee)
Volunteer STEAM Teaching Artist @YGIG After School for Middle Schoolers
Fabric Designer & Indigenous Garment Maker
Writer & Digital Storyteller
Pow Wow Dancer (Southern Cloth)
Kokum & Indigenous Knowledge Keeper
Small business consultant & social media teaching artist

Upcoming Art Show Participation

Durham Art Walk Holiday Market
Saturday, November 16, 10am-5pm
Sunday, November 17, 1pm -5pm

The Durham Art Walk Holiday Market is a festive fine arts and crafts event that kicks off the holiday season in downtown Durham! The Holiday Market invites art lovers to experience a weekend featuring local artists, live music, world-class restaurants, and great shopping, at easily strollable venues in the Durham city center. The Holiday Market is the perfect transition from the harvest to the holidays! Free and family friendly!

Items Available To Purchase @ Durham Art Walk Holiday Market
Include One-Of-A-Kind Wearables, Cotton Fabric Yardage & Home Goods

Image of turmeric yellow dyed silk scarves

Indigo & turquoise hand-dyed cotton fabric

Indigo blue and orange hand-dyed cotton fabric

Online & In-Person Natural Dye Workshops

Learn the art and spiritual significance of Indigenous Gullah Geechee plant-based indigo dyeing practiced by my family on Johns Island in South Carolina. Discover the "survivance" technique of "Binding Up The Blues" to create unique resist design patterns that tell stories about who we are and how we survived.

Online workshops and webinars enable you to work in the comfort of your home from any where in the world. Workshops include live guided instruction each week via Zoom which are recorded so that you can play them back. Also, included are downloadable instructional PDFs, dye recipes, and a weekly Q&A to address any learner concerns. All workshops require registration.

In-person classes happen in Eastern North Carolina, Virginia and on Johns Island, South Carolina. I also teach community classes as part of art residences on Treaty Lands in Canada, and in New Orleans.

>> Frequently Asked Questions About Indigenous Geechee Indigo Dyeing <<

In My Grandmother's Kitchen

For South-Eastern Woodlands Indigenous, Geechee and Gullah people, the cultivation and dyeing with indigo was more than an economic activity; it was a means of maintaining cultural identity. Indigo, like other traditions practiced on the Gullah Geechee corridor, is a symbol of survival and resistance in the face of centuries of oppression. It represents the ability of our ancestors to adapt and thrive despite the violence of slavery, the hardships of Reconstruction, and ongoing marginalization. "In My Grandmother's Kitchen" is a cultural transfer of knowledge about the "medicine" of indigo that's been shared with me from my mother, grandmothers, great-grandmothers, and a great-great-grandmother as a fifth generation practitioner on Johns Island, South Carolina. The series of workshops include in-person, online and on-demand.