About the EarthLoom

The EarthLoom was originated by Susan Barrett Merrill in the early 2000s. Its purpose is to build community by allowing many people to create artwork together, using the very simplest of weaving.

The very first EarthLoom was built at the Common Ground Country Fair by forester Grant Estell. Later, Susan worked with her husband Richard to design resources, training, and even provide EarthLooms to individuals and organizations who share our passion for building community through the arts, in what was then the EarthLoom Project.

Through that project the EarthLoom idea was seeded in many countries. EarthLooms are now found all over the world, including in the US and Canada, the UK, Australia, Portugal, and Bermuda. We have approved loom builders in the UK and Portugal, so that folks in Europe and the UK can go to them when they want EarthLooms built.

Of course, there are downloadable EarthLoom plans in our online store.

Contact us for more information about UK and Europe EarthLooms

The EarthLoom

The nine-foot Garden EarthLoom is a living symbol, planted in the ground, of our intention to weave together the fabric of community. Just as the six foot Story EarthLoom with feet brings the community inside, as in a classroom, and the Journey EarthLoom that fits in your lap is a means for the individual to study integration of the self, the EarthLoom helps communities to unite hands and hearts to build and weave together an emblem and an instrument of peace. With many hands on both sides of the loom, we use our differences to create art in which every contribution is vital to the design as a whole.

Your EarthLoom may be built by your organization, corporation, school, family camp, daycare, hospital, prison, nursing home, memorial or in your garden or back yard. EarthLooms and their weavings are a gift of friendship and an inspiration for action.

EarthLooms may be made with indigenous materials by the hands of those who will weave on them. Weaving together is so powerful -it is a literal act of weaving together the community. In this simple and ancient art, we connect with others whose fingers have touched the same threads to create the same fabric with the same purpose. It is a deep-rooted bond in the heart that can change the way we define our neighborhood.