Fabric of Life Staff

Sara Davis (she/her)
Marketing & Programs Agent

programs@fabric-of-life.org

Sara and her husband, Carl own Oak Hollow Livestock, where they raise a variety of livestock, poultry, and rabbits with their family. They are excited to be a part of the local farming community in Shelburne, MA. Sara leads a local 4-H club and has served on a number of volunteer Boards over the years. Professionally, she spent over a decade working in marketing, specializing in graphic and multimedia design at an international company. She has a passion for agriculture and supporting local and sustainable businesses and artisans. Sara and Carl had been brainstorming ways to share their knowledge with the local community to help build resilience and foster the transfer of skills from one generation to the next when she learned that there was an opportunity with Fabric of Life to do just that. She has extensive experience with design, editing, marketing, networking and planning that she hopes will help Fabric of Life connect with those who are interested and just haven’t found their way to us yet!

Leslie Taylor (she/her)
Program Coordinator

Leslie’s lifelong interests include history and folklore, handcrafts, folk song and dance. The inspiration for her first quilt – in the log cabin pattern – was a box of fabric scraps dumped onto a table by her high school home economics teacher. Equipped with a degree from Colby College in American Studies, Leslie began a 40-year career of leadership and support positions in non-profit and educational settings in Franklin County. Most recently, she served for two decades as an administrator at Four Rivers Charter Public School in Greenfield, where she managed admissions and enrollment, oversaw annual lotteries, and planned graduations and special events. Prior to that, in her position at the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, home of the Old Deerfield Craft Fairs, she helped to raise awareness of the area’s remarkable past. She also served as President of the Board of 1794 Meetinghouse, Inc in New Salem, furthering its mission to preserve the historic structure while presenting a diverse mix of exceptional programs. Leslie lives with her husband Nick Plakias in the Patten District of Shelburne, and is excited to join the Fabric of Life team

Eva Gaultney (she/her)
Program Support  & Scandinavian Weaving Teacher

Eva attended the Väv Immersion program in 2019, where she expanded her knowledge of Swedish weaving and techniques. She began her weaving journey at Berea College as a production weaver, where she wove placemats, rag rugs, and rep weave; she also enjoyed exposure to different looms, tools, and weaving techniques. With her interest piqued, she spent much of her free time digging deeper into all aspects of weaving. After graduating from Berea, she accepted a position as an Environmental Educator at Pine Mountain Settlement School. There she discovered the loom room, packed with an assortment of looms of various makes and styles. She learned a lot about loom mechanics from working on and maintaining those looms. In 2020, Eva returned to Fabric of Life as Becky’s teaching apprentice, and is now an integral part of our teaching staff.

Fabric of Life Board Members

Becky Ashenden (she/her)
Founder & Executive Director

Owner and weaving teacher at Vävstuga Weaving School. Becky’s 1981 introduction to the wealth of the Swedish textile world at Sätergläntan Hemslöjdens Gård, a school renowned for weaving and other traditional crafts since 1922, gave her the motivation to pursue weaving as a life passion as well as a career. The following thirteen years of production and sales added experience to her initial high-level training to build a unique set of complementary skills in both the theory and practice of weaving. Her use of equipment and techniques that have withstood the test of time adds to the value of what she has been offering her students at Vävstuga since 1991. Becky has also worked on a series of publishing projects for her own Vävstuga Press, which includes translating weaving books from Sweden to English and republishing Swedish weaving books that have gone out of print. She has also been the technical editor for several Swedish weaving books that have recently been published in English. Becky is excited to be leading the charge with Fabric of Life so as to expand and nourish the work she has been invested in for the past 35 years.

Becky is enthusiastic to promote the sharing of skills through Fabric of Life beyond weaving in forms such as traditional agriculture with a modern twist, using and maintaining a healthy forest, various forms of traditional music and dance as well as other hand craft skills aimed at making beautiful things for practical everyday use. She feels it is imperative to bring people together, not only to offers the opportunity to learn new skills, but also to facilitate valuable networking with each other and even further strengthen our community.

Joe Blumenthal
Treasurer

Joe Blumenthal is a musician and retired musical instrument retailer with a strong interest in history and traditional music.  For forty-two years he owned and operated Downtown Sounds retail music store in Northampton, MA.  He also plays upright and electric bass, specializing in traditional music of Eastern Europe and the middle East and the U.S. He also founded Northampton’s ukulele club AEIOUkes, and has taught beginner ukulele and dumbek classes.  Joe has been active in his community, serving on the boards of the Northampton Community Music Center, Northampton’s Business Improvement District and its Downtown Northampton Association.

Sara Coffey (she/her)
Secretary

Sara lives in Southern Vermont and has been working in the performing arts field as a manager, programmer, producer and fundraiser for over 25 years. Sara was the founder and Director of Vermont Performance Lab and worked with MASS MoCA on its inaugural performing arts seasons and 651 Arts in Brooklyn, NY. She has managed dance companies and produced projects with artists based in NYC and throughout New England. In 2022 Sara was re-elected by her community to serve a third term in the Vermont House of Representatives.

In addition to her work in the arts and legislature, Sara has been an active volunteer in her community, including stewarding the campaign to transform Guilford’s grange hall into a vibrant community center. She is a strong believer in the power of the arts and the creative economy, and is excited to join the Fabric of Life Board to support its mission to help traditional skills flourish in our modern world.

Joan G. Funk (she/her)

Joan is a retired NASA engineer and program manager and has been active in non-profit organizations. She is an artist and animal lover. She has been fortunate to participate in the Väv Immersion program – the cornerstone program of Fabric of Life. Joan’s grandfather was a wonderful woodworker in his spare time. She currently has several pieces of furniture that he made. Unfortunately it didn’t cross his mind to teach his granddaughter those skills and by the time she was ready to ask, he was unable to do so. This is a personal reminder to her of the importance of Fabric of Life’s mission.

Drew Harris (he/him)
President

Drew has worked as a university professor for twenty-four years, having been published in fifteen peer-reviewed academic journals, and has presented at dozens of conferences through the years. He brings expertise in the areas of strategy, entrepreneurship, and human resource management, as well as creativity drawn from his background as a musician, dancer, and writer. Drew is excited to be a board member for Fabric of Life because he believes that we need experiences that remind us that objects with purpose and authentic relationships make joy and richness.

Suzan Keyes Khair (she/her)

Susan Keyes Khiar is passionate about preserving and promoting our diverse and extraordinary cultural heritage through championing traditional skills, music, and culture. A native Michigander, Suze was raised in the countryside surrounded by nature, farming, animals, and her family’s organic raspberry farm. Long fascinated by highly skilled craftsmanship, Suze moved to France where she obtained an MBA in the management of luxury goods. Her involvement with some of Europe’s most exclusive companies allowed her to appreciate the rarity of fine craftsmanship skills and the intense dedication and passion of the people pursuing their unique talents. In addition to her personal love of weaving and fiber arts, Suze brings thirty years of business experience to Fabric of Life: marketing and brand management; developing business, sales and marketing plans for large and small companies, including startups; marketing communication; event planning and management; and French translation and interpretation. Most recently Suze has partnered with three other experienced innovators to launch an innovative healthcare startup. Prior to that she was Chief of Staff for an artificial intelligence company in the FinTech space. She combines her passion and joy of traditional skills with her breadth of knowledge and business expertise to help Fabric of Life in its mission to strengthen our communities through creating practical things of beauty.

Noel Kropf (he/him)

Noel is a dancer and lover of traditional music and dance. He grew up in Western Massachusetts before moving to New York in 1976. He works as a computer software architect and developer. Noel co-founded the software company Datacap and became its CTO. Noel serves as an officer for several nonprofit organizations that promote and educate about traditional music & dance, historic preservation, and our local and global environment. Noel views serving on the board at Fabric of Life as an opportunity to foster traditional crafts and practices, alongside traditional music and dance.

John Marcy (he/him)

John holds an MFA in Photography from Yale University and has been involved in various aspects of photographic work for over 40 years. His work in black-and-white printmaking for important contemporary and historically important photographers has been exhibited in many venues, including The Museum of Modern Art, The Wadsworth Atheneum, The National Museum of Women in the Arts, The Worcester Art Museum and a traveling exhibition for the National Geographic Society.

After retiring from his full-time printing work John has begun production of a comprehensive print archive of his 40  plus years of his work in photography. John is also busy working in his wood shop, producing custom Vävstuga design weaving tools.

John is committed to the underlying mission of Fabric of Life and the value of individual agency developed through traditional skill-based work.

Gawain Thomas (he/him)

Gawain is a research scientist and musician who grew up in Southern New Hampshire, and enjoys playing the accordion, fiddle and piano.  He has played accordion for local Balkan music groups including Orkestar Banitsa, Balkan Mind Meld, and Gogofski, as well as piano for the Celtic trio The Tipsy Parsnips. In his spare time, Gawain also enjoys honing a broad range of hands-on skills such as carpentry, antique home restoration, plumbing and electrical, woodworking, instrument repair, and automobile repair, to name just a few.

As the nephew of Fabric of Life founder Becky Ashenden, Gawain has witnessed the emergence of Fabric of Life from its inception and shares Becky’s passion for preserving traditional handcrafts. Gawain contributes to the mission of Fabric of Life by providing hands-on support during events, and brings a unique historical perspective to the Board of Directors.