KAWS 2023 Instructor Bios

Liz Bonny is a weaver, spinner, dyer, wool scourer, and lover of her fiber community. She teaches all these things and is a mom as well. She is always learning new techniques and believes in therapeutic quality of fiber and making.
Meagan Condon is a librarian and fiber artist with more than 10 years of teaching experience. Her areas of focus area micrioscopy of fiber, breed studies, plant fibers, natural dyes, digital community, and the science behind textiles. She has been published in PLY Magazine.
Jan Eitel - I have been basket weaving for over 13 years and teaching for many of those. I spin and weave and crochet and do needle crafts of all kinds. I love to work with my hands. I live in Topeka with my husband and a very active puppy.
Kay A. McCoy developed a passion for fiber arts first when she learned to macramé, knit and wheat weave as a 4-Her. That passion continued when she learned to spin, weave and rekindled her interest in knitting, she loves finding new ways to feed her fiber enthusiasm including teaching heritage and fiber arts, creating knitwear patterns, and making and selling items she creates through “Prairie Inspirations’”, her fiber arts business.
Ronna Robertson has been active in creative fibers arts for over 50 years, including teaching bobbin lace for 40 years
Samantha Stopple - I’ve been a spinner for 17 years and have taught spinning for 8 years. I love to think about how things work and explore the whole process. I love sharing my knowledge with spinners so you can make things.
Carol Leffler is a fiber-phile with 20 years experience weaving and spinning, more if you count crochet and embroidery.
Marcia Harvey is an experienced fiber artist. I have crocheted and embroidered since childhood. In the last 13 years I have learned knitting, spinning, weaving and wool applique. I am also an avid quilter. I have been a Creative Hands participant for several years.
Chelle Cohen is an experienced knitter, crocheter, spinner, weaver, sewist and loves to embellish her handcrafted creations with plenty of “bling” and unique touches. Her motto is “Love what you’re making and wear what you make.”
Sharon Barnes learned to spin in the late 70’s and usually knits with her handspun. She is a regular instructor of fiber prep, spinning & knitting at the Wichita Weavers, Spinners and Dyers Guild’s Fiber Arts Center and has published articles in Spin Off, and Shuttle, Spindle & Dyepot.
M. Emilia Barbosa is a Portuguese-American fiber artist who expresses herself in several disciplines, including knitting, crochet, spinning, natural and professional grade dyes, and embroidery. A curious and adventurous person by nature, she loves to cross cultural making boundaries by using her language, traveling and learning skills. Recently, she has started to design her own patterns and teaching fiber classes, and leading local fiber events in Rolla, Mo.
Bea Bonanno is a fiber artist living in Lawrence, KS. Her primary methods of weaving create richly textured and dynamic tapestries by using atypical materials and structures in their construction.
Carla Tilghman learned to spin and weave when she was 12, and never got over it. After a long career in Emergency Medicine, I returned to school and earned an MFA in Textiles in 2004. While she loves many different textile techniques, she remains obsessed with weaving.
Malissa Long Is a fiber artist who likes to challenge understanding the world through her art. Fiber is a wonderfully dynamic medium. The journey in fiber arts is an exciting one, always changing and experimenting, never staying, still always in motion, just like nature.