Woodmont Weavers- Arlington, VA

Woodmont Weavers is a store in an Arlington mall where individuals with disabilities both make and sell their own art. Each worker has their own loom. It has been open for 22 years now and two of the workers have been there from the start.

The director told us, “Dawn doesn’t like to cut off the fringes so we have volunteers that use her work with the fringes and all and turn them into really unique purses.” They don’t change Dawn’s imperfect art, and they respect her independent work. Dawn has a great eye for creating art; we saw her wall hanging that has puffy bits of string sticking out, beads hanging off, and lots of colorful pinks. She was so proud of it. And it was beautifully perfect.

I asked about a hat that one worker was wearing. The director said they used to have a weaver of the month in previous years and the hat was the reward for being selected. Each of the workers had received a weaver of the month hat at some point in the past. When I looked around I saw that two individuals were wearing these hats. The director told us that these two still wear their hats everyday. Recognition goes a long way.

*Visit their website at http://www.stcoletta.org/index.php?page=woodmont-weavers

*Buying from Amzon.com? Go to this link and St. Coletta (which funds this program and others for individuals with disabilities) will receive up to 15% of the value of your purchases. www.stcoletta.org/amazon.com