About the project, The Future is Wool

The Future is Wool is an on-going research and creation project exploring the personal and planetary benefits of wool – emphasizing Canadian wool and celebrating wool from around the world! Through studio practice, collaborative art-making, and public outreach, we are celebrating the wonders of wool. Beautiful, ethical, and biodegradable, wool is an extraordinary material for sustainable art and design. Wool is just 1% of the world textile market but deserves to be so much more! Too much of the Canadian wool ‘clip’ gets discarded before it can reach its great potential, but awareness-raising and innovation can help change that. 

A centrepiece of The Future is Wool is our stitched wool tapestry, which, in multiple panels, will tell a people’s history and propose some positive futures for wool. 

Please help us tell the story: share your own experiences with wool, nominate a wool ‘hero’ or ‘heroine’ or even your favourite sheep to be part of the tapestry. If you’ve got pictures to share, we’d love to see them! Our on-line questionnaire is available at this link through January 31, 2026. 

The Future is Wool tapestry is inspired by the famous Bayeux Tapestry (created circa 1080), which in 70 metres (9 joined panels) tells the story of the Norman conquest of England in 1066. Stitched in naturally dyed wool on linen, its drama and beauty are still wowing audiences a millennium later! With your help, our narrative tapestry will celebrate not war, but WOOL. Together, we’ll design and stitch a story of about 20 metres (in 7 separate panels) throughout the next three years. We’re using naturally dyed and undyed wool on linen, too, and supporting Canadian sheep farmers and yarn producers. 

You’ll see our embroidery frame pop up at fibre events through the next three years – especially in Quebec and Ontario. Please be in touch if you’d like us to come to your community!