Saturday May 9, 2026 | 2:00 – 4:00pm
Location: RU House at Colonels Row, Building #404B on Governors Island (map)
Ferry information | Video directions
Free Workshop
Limited to 12 participants. RSVP required.
In this family-friendly workshop led by Ruth Jeyaveeran (2024 NYCBAR/RU alum), participants are invited to explore the ancient tradition of wet-felting using stones gathered from Governors Island.
By transforming raw wool into soft, tactile objects, participants are encouraged to slow down and experience the power of touch. Drawing on global craft traditions, the session focuses on the restorative nature of collective making.
Workshop participants will create felted rocks to keep and others to share, turning the creative process into a meaningful gift and exchange.
No prior experience is necessary and all materials are provided.
About
Ruth Jeyaveeran lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. Her work is rooted in traditional material practices and shaped by her experience within the South Asian diaspora. She uses textiles to explore shared histories of alienation and dissociation. In her felted drawings, soft sculptures, and installations, wool transforms into skin, soil, or map. Each piece becomes an intimate excavation as she layers fiber like sediment, allowing unexpected marks to rise to the surface. This process draws from both land and body, revealing cycles of trauma and renewal. By collaborating with material and process, Jeyaveeran allows long-buried truths to emerge.
Her debut solo exhibition was presented at Field Projects in 2023. Other notable exhibitions include a two-person show at Fjord Gallery (Philadelphia, PA) and a solo installation at Main Window Dumbo. Her work has also been featured at Transmitter Gallery, Smack Mellon, Fridman Gallery, the Brattleboro Museum, Queens Botanical Garden, All Street Gallery, ABC No Rio, Westbeth Gallery, The Yard, Ely Center of Contemporary Art, The Border Project, and Bronx Art Space, among others.
Jeyaveeran has received residencies from the Ucross Foundation, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Residency Unlimited, Lighthouse Works, Marble House Project, Willapa Bay, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, PADA Studios, and La Napoule Art Foundation. She has taught textiles and fibers at Parsons School of Design and frequently leads workshops on felting and the therapeutic potential of craft. She is currently an Associate Professor of Textile Design at the Fashion Institute of Technology.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
RU is grateful for the partnership with Governors Island Arts.
