Dreams of the Future Bead Workshop

This exciting afternoon will begin with an Artist Talk by Alicia Piller at 1pm, exploring her unique art practice that is rooted in anthropology and fashion.

The workshop at 2pm will be offered in collaboration with our Center for Literary Arts, to inspire connections across art forms. Open to all levels; please see more below.

In a world where our minds are oversaturated by cycles of violence, environmental instability, racism, classism, and uncertainty, artist Alicia Piller invites participants to dream BIG. Rooted in her interdisciplinary practice of mixed media, adornment, ritual wrapping, and material transformation, this workshop encourages participants to preserve their dreams for the future through the use of recycled paper and found materials. 

Participants will write dreams, desires, wishes, memories, mantras, or affirmations onto recycled materials and transform them into sculptural beads that can be worn, carried, or shared. The act of rolling and wrapping becomes both meditative and symbolic: transforming discarded materials into vessels for hope, healing, and future imagining. 

Participants are encouraged to bring optional “memory materials” such as old letters, newspapers, maps, receipts, photocopies, book pages, or fabric scraps that hold personal or historical significance. These materials can be embedded directly into the bead-making process, creating wearable archives of memory and reflection. 

As part of the workshop, each participant will contribute one bead to a communal strand or collective sculpture. This shared artwork becomes a collaborative archive of dreams, intentions, and future visions generated by the group, emphasizing connection, collective care, and community building through artmaking. 

Entering this workshop with any level of expertise, participants are encouraged to create anything from intimate objects to maximalist wearable forms.