Supporting Partner Directory

Our goal is that our Supporting Partner Directory becomes a go-to list for those looking to co-create a more regenerative place here in the Rust Belt Region through programs, spaces, education, business partners, commissioned work, etc.

Our Supporting Partners are attracted to our work likely due to their interest in local fiber/textiles/fashion, but more broadly due to wanting to also create opportunities for knowledge & ecological awareness, kinship, and changemaking.

Supporting Partners foster, advocate for, and aspire to the core of the Rust Belt Fibershed: local fiber, local labor, local dyes; however, they do not have to be working on any of those three initiatives personally.

Participation as a supporting partner aids in our mission of connecting people to local fiber materials and building our local fiber economy.

ORGANIZATIONS, MUSEUMS, & NONPROFITS:

These supporting partners are fiber art guilds, museums, non-profits, schools, and more interested in supporting our mission.

RETAILERS:

Our Supporting Partner Retailers own boutiques, storefronts, or other customer-facing, merchandise business, selling goods that align to our principles of economic integrity, ecological stewardship, and connection to people and place. Supporting Partner Retailers do not need to be a textile, fabric, clothing, etc. shop.

Are you a retailer interested in supporting the RBF? Learn more.

ARTISTS:

Our Supporting Partner Artists make art and would love to showcase and connect it with regional fiber, but aren’t looking to be a part of the Value Chain when it comes to manufacturing local textiles. We are often looking for engaged community artists to help bring our mission to the hearts and minds of our wide community.

INDIVIDUALS

Thank you to these individual humans interested in supporting a local fiber economy!

Janel Franks