About the Artist

Joan Griffin is a tapestry weaver with over forty years of experience and a full-time studio practice based in Charlottesville, Virginia. Her work focuses on handwoven tapestries created for exhibitions and private commissions, and her studio practice balances sustained making with teaching and mentorship.

She holds an MFA in Textile Design from Antioch University and a BS in Art Education from SUNY College at Buffalo. Her academic background is paired with decades of hands-on studio work and teaching across a range of settings.

Joan has taught tapestry weaving and at art centers, colleges, and high schools, and she previously served as a Research Assistant to Irene Emery, Curator Emeritus at the Textile Museum in Washington, DC—an experience that deeply informed her understanding of textile history, structure, and material culture.

Today, Joan teaches small, intensive weekend workshops in her Charlottesville studio, where students work in a focused, supportive environment and gain insight into both traditional tapestry techniques and contemporary approaches to the medium.

Her work is rooted in a respect for tradition, material, and process, while remaining open to experimentation and personal expression.

Selected Exhibitions

  • Waters of Virginia, Muscarelle, Museum, Williamsburg, VA 2026

  • Botanicals.....Denver Botanical Gardens. Denver , Co 2025

  • American Tapestry Biennial 13, Arrowmont Art Center May 2023

  • Weaving Through Time,McGuffey Art Center, Charlottesville May 2022

  • US State Art in Embassy Exhibit. Luanda, Angola 2022-2025

  • American Tapestry Biennial 12, Highfield Hall, MA 2021

  • Small Tapestry International 7, 2021 St. Paul MN

  • Third Fiber Biennial, Workhouse art center, Lorton, VA 2020

  • Small Tapestry International, Louisiana and Il 2019

  • A shape, A Strand , A story. Tapestry Weavers South Jan-May 2018, Yadkin Cultural  Art Center, Yadkinville, NC. June-July 2018

  • US Embassy  Tashkent, Uzbekistan, 2016-2018

  • Journeys in Woven Color, Barns at Rose Hill, Berryville, VA through September 23,2017

  • Small Tapestry International 5 : Crossroads, Univ. of North Texas, August 17- September 30,2017,

  • Small tapestry International 5: Crossroads, Handforth Gallery, Tacoma Public Library, November 15- December 30,2017

  • Properties of the Imagination: The art of Fine Craft, December -February 2017, Waynesboro Theatre, Waynesboro, VA

  • Explorations in Fiber, Blackrock Center for the Arts, February 2016, Germatown , MD

  • Tapestry Weavers South Anniversary Exhibit. Yadkin Cultural Arts Center, Yadkinville, NC. May 3 to July 9, 2016.

  • Small Tapestry International 4:traveling exhibit 2015 and early 2016.

  • Stories of the Sea, Florida Maritime Museum, Cortez, Florida, 2015

  • U.S.Embassy,Dili, East Timor 2015-2017.

  • The Art is the Cloth, Deerfield Academy, South Deerfield, MA  March 26 -May 1,2015

  • American Tapestry Biennial 10, Kaneko, Omaha, NE. February 6-April 24,2015

  • Tapestry Weavers South And The Beat Goes On, Folk Art Center, Asheville, NC 2014

  • Journeys in Woven Color, McGuffey Art Center,Charlottesville, VA July 2013

  • Threads of Life,Quinlan Visual Art Center, Gainsville,GA April-June 2013

  • Fiber and Fabric,Art Craft Design, regional Surface Design Assoc.exhibit,Craddock Gallery,Riverviews Artspace,Lynchburg,VA May 3-June,2013

  • Into the Garden, NC Arboretum, Asheville, NC October 2012-January 2013

  • Woven Journeys,one person exhibit,WVTF Studio Gallery,Charlottesville, VA November, 2012

  • The Artist Among Us, Burchfield Penny Art Center, Buffalo, NY May-August 2012

  • Pacific Portals. Long Beach,CA library July -August 2012

  • Coastal Fibers 2011,Art center Gallery, Astoria ,OR

  • Small Tapestry International:Passages, Weaving Southwest,Taos, NM ,Tacoma, WA and Glen Allen, VA 2011

  • Inspirations from Nature, NC Arboretum, Asheville, NC 2010

  • Tapestry Journeys, Shenandoah Valley Art Center,Waynesboro, VA 2010

  • Journey of the Imagination, Hudgens Center for the Arts,Duluth, GA 2009

  • Woven Visions, Anderson Art Center, Anderson, SC 2009

  • Woven Wonders, James Madison University Arboretum,Harrisonburg, VA 2009

  • Tapestry: Interpretation of the Natural World, The Mill Gallery, Charlottesville, VA 2008

  • U.S. Embassy, Managua, Nicaragua 2008-2012

  • Blue Ridge Hand weaving exhibit, Asheville, NC 2008

  • Land:Tapestry Foundation of Victoria Exhibition, National University, Canberra, Australia 2008

  • Small Expressions 2007. Univ. of Nebraska,Lincoln and Indianapolis Art Center, IN

  • Tapestry:People and Places, Artisan Center of Virginia, Waynesboro, VA 2007

  • Southern Yarns,Southern Highland folk Art Center, Asheville, NC 2007

  • Augusta Medical Center First Floor Gallery, one person exhibit. Fisherville, VA (2006)

  • Fiber Celebrated 2006: Lincoln Art Center, Ft. Collins, CO.

  • Craft National 2006: Lancaster Museum of Art, Lancaster PA

  • On the Soft Edge: An Adventure in Contemporary Textiles, Dorchester Arts Center, Cambridge, MD (2005)

  • Natures Texture, Gallery at Fifth and Water, Charlottesville, VA (2005)

  • Celebration of Fiber, Apex Gallery,Washington, DC (2005)

  • Crossing Boundaries: The Tapestry Group, Good Goods Gallery, Saugatuck, MI (2004)

  • Spotlight 2003: Blue Spiral 1, Asheville, NC American Craft Council Southeast Juried Exhibit

  • Tapestry: Art in Fiber: OakRidge ArtCenter, OakRidge,TN, Spartanburg County Museum, SC (2002)

  • Moments in Tapestry: Fine Line Creative Arts Center, St. Charles, IL (2001)

  • International Invitational Liturgical Art Guild Exhibit, Schumacher Gallery, Columbus Ohio (1999)

  • American Tapestry Biennial, traveling exhibit ‘96-97,

  • SELECT: Juried Regional Exhibit: Sawhill Gallery, J.Madison Univ. Harrisonburg, VA (1995)

  • TWINE Exhibition: Emporium Gallery, Dover, NH (1995)

  • Fiber Celebrated ‘95: Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ

  • Tapestry: solo exhibit, Hinkle Library, S.U.N.Y. Alfred, NY (1994)

Corporate / Residential / Liturgical Commissions / Collections

  • Residence, Blackburg , VA

  • Residence, Charlottesville, VA

  • Professional Office, Charlottesville, VA

  • Stafford Hospital Center, Stafford, VA

  • Residence, New York City, NY

  • Augusta Medical Center, Fishersville, VA

  • Martha Jefferson Hospital Outpatient Clinic, Charlottesville, VA

  • St Francis de Sales, Abingdon, MD

  • Holy Family Catholic Community, Middletown, MD

  • Residence, Mclean, VA

  • University of North Carolina Library, Chapel Hill, NC

  • Wheeling Medical Center Hospital Chapel, Wheeling, W. VA

  • Recreational Vehicle Industry Association, Reston, VA

  • Residence, Fairfax, VA

  • Chevy Chase Savings & Loan, Olney, MD

  • Satellite Business Systems, Mclean, VA