PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Two, ten-day workshops were an initiative of the My Armenia Program, a partnership between USAID, the Smithsonian Institution, and the people of Armenia. As a consultant with Bhavana World Project, Lesli Robertson worked collectively to develop the two training workshops to build upon existing textile and product design knowledge, while training artists to be more entrepreneurial in their product design and development. The workshops were facilitated by Ashkhen Khudaverdyan of My Armenia, through the partnership with Lilit Melikyan at the Teryan Cultural Center who hosted the workshops. The workshop model focused on developing the practice of each individual artist while engaging and teaching in a group workshop setting. This model focused on engagement, both within the classroom between participants as well as with local and international places and people as a way to develop the resources available to artists. We set the stage to foster an environment where each participant is valued for their breadth of knowledge and opening opportunities for each to share his/her practice with the group.