About
Marnie Saskin is a Hamilton based textile artist and long-time community collaborator within the worlds of making, food security, and poverty reduction.
Born in Niagara, she was awarded a BSc, Mathematics and English Literature, Brock University (1997), and worked as a research assistant in Infection Control at Mount Sinai Hospital for a few years before taking a leap and choosing to build on her Mennonite background in farming, food preservation, and textile arts with an urban/art twist.
In 2007 she started her first blog and online shop and also volunteered and took leadership roles in local Toronto food sustainability and poverty reduction initiatives, specifically the Shoelace Collective and Not Far From the Tree.
After two decades living and homeschooling in Toronto, her family relocated to Hamilton. Her daughter Safiya is a talented handspinner who keeps Marnie in handmade yarn, and shares her love of textiles and cosplay. She is currently a MAAD student at OCAD University. While her daughter is away at undergrad, Marnie’s teen son, her husband who works from home, their cat Shadow and their rabbit Foofy all keep her company as she works in her studio.
Marnie has exhibited at shows and curated displays with the Burlington Handweavers and Spinners Guild at the Art Gallery of Burlington She is a past-president of the BHSG, and served for many years on the executive.
Over the years she has written and lead workshops in food preservation, textile re-making and quilting, is a member of WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms), is trained as a facilitator for the Kairos Blanket Exercise, and has won awards as a maker and writer.
She is an enthusiastic and joyful collaborator with Works-in-Progress Toronto, bringing with her a deep ability and knowledge of many textile techniques, and a willingness to share. With Works-in-Progress, she has facilitated workshops with the Textile Museum of Canada, YSM’s Double Take in Toronto, the Toronto District School Board, EcoFair Toronto, the Toronto Public Library, and in her own neighbourhood of Westdale in Hamilton. You can find many of the workshops and collaborative events that they have shared here: Collaboration