Imagining Iceland
During the month of June’s endless days of the Arctic summer, 16 students of the ‘place-based’ Iceland Field School make art, build community, and consider
sustainability and responsible tourism in the rural landscape. Learn with local experts at the renowned Icelandic Textile Center (in Blönduós) and earn 3 credits towards your bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree.
Photo by: Sharmistha Kar
About the Program
The Iceland Field School (IFS) is an interdisciplinary, mixed-level (BFA to PhD) Special Topics course (3 credits), sited at the renowned Icelandic Textile Centre, an academic research centre and artistic residency in Blönduós, northwest Iceland, during the endless daylight of the summer solstice month of June. We learn using a place-based, post-humanist lens, and consider environmental issues important to Iceland, Canada, and the world. Emphasizing community building, we aim to give back to our host community as well as receive, and so offer the municipality our help with the Prjónagleði - Iceland Knit Fest (June 5-7, 2026) and other events such as beach cleaning.
Students have single or double occupancy accommodation in two buildings, and in each share kitchen, laundry, and bathroom facilities. The Centre provides a large multi-use shared studio (suitable for dust-free and non-toxic processes only), weaving loft and looms (for experienced users only), natural dye shed, and a digitally enabled classroom/meeting room.
Students develop individualized and interdisciplinary artistic projects in a variety of media such as textiles, photography, video, performance, drawing, environmental art, graphic novels, book arts, writing, or academic work on themes of museum studies, community development, tourism, and hospitality studies. Other coursework includes workshops with Icelandic experts in tapestry weaving, spinning wool, natural dyeing with locally foraged plants, working with seaweed, plus written reflections and blog posts on Icelandic art and sustainable artistic practice, and a self-assessment. The Field School includes an introduction to the digital textile technology of the Centre’s TextileLab (digital embroidery machine, TC2 jacquard loom, digital knitting machine, FeltLoom, tufting, 3D printing, laser cutter, heat press).
Before departure, two required classes are held at Concordia in May (dates TBD).
The Iceland Field School is designed and led by Kathleen Vaughan, Concordia University Chair in Art + Education for Sustainable and Just Futures and Professor of Art Education.
Program dates & course
Dates: June 1- June 30, 2026, plus two 2-hour predeparture sessions in May 2026 (dates TBD) in Montreal.
Undergraduate & Graduate courses:
FAFS 398/660/860; ARTE 398/660/850
Estimated cost
Program fee: Concordia will charge program participants 3 credits of Concordia tuition and a program fee of $3100. This fee includes housing at the Icelandic Textile Center in Blönduós, Iceland, workshops in tapestry weaving, spinning, natural dyeing, and artmaking with seaweed and bioplastics.
Students are responsible for selecting and paying their transportation to/from Blönduós; mandatory health and travel insurance; meals; spending money; any required travel documents and other miscellaneous expenses associated with travel. Students also pay for and supply their own materials.
Available funding
Peter N. Thomson Family Field School Award
The Faculty of Fine Arts invites applications for the Peter N. Thomson Family Field School Awards. The Award offers an amount of $1,300 for thirty (30) eligible Fine Arts undergraduate or graduate students accepted to a Field School hosted by the Faculty of Fine Arts. Please consult the Peter N. Thomson Family Field School Award webpage for application instructions.
Quebec Mobility Bursary
To help with the costs of going abroad, Concordia students may receive a $3,050 CAD Quebec Mobility Bursary. To be eligible you must be a Concordia student enrolled in a full time bachelor's, master's or doctoral degree program and approved to participate in the Field School.
Important to note:
- Field School applicants do not need to submit a Quebec Mobility Bursary application as it is part of the on-line Field School application, and you will automatically be considered for the bursary.
- The bursary will be applied to student accounts. Details on the payment of the bursary will be sent to successful applicants.
Contact Concordia International if you have any questions about the Quebec Mobility Bursary.
Host institution
Textílmiðstöð, or in English, The Icelandic Textile Center (ITC) is a private, non-profit makerspace and creative hub in the town of Blönduós in the rural region of northwest Iceland. Located in a historic building that for almost 100 years served as a women’s school (Kvennaskólinn), the Textile Center engages in research projects and long-term collaborations with international partners, fostering education and innovation in textiles. These efforts are supported through initiatives such as workshops in our TextileLab and the renowned Ós textile residency program that since 2013 has welcomed artists from around the world for stays of 1 to 3 months.
Accommodations
Students stay in two buildings of the Icelandic Textile Centre, the historic 4-storey Kvennaskólinn (Women’s School – accommodates 9) and the adjacent mid-century bungalow known as ‘House 35’ (accommodates 7). Accommodation is in 10 single and 3 double rooms (accommodating 16 people maximum), equipped with beds, desks, armoires, and blackout curtains. Both buildings include shared bathrooms and kitchens, with kitchen equipment provided, as are basic bed linen and towels. Students source food (not provided) from the well-equipped local grocery store (10 minutes walk away) and cook individually or collaboratively in shared kitchens. All participants have access to lounge and dining spaces in both buildings, to the large, shared studio and weaving loft in the Kvennaskólinn, and to the Dye Shed and TextileLab, in nearby separate buildings. The Kvennaskólinn has multiple staircases and is not suitable for students with severe mobility limitations (this historic building has not been able to be retrofitted for accessibility).
Application Process
To be eligible to participate in the field school, you must meet one of the following criteria.
- Be enrolled in a Bachelor’s degree program, with a minimum 2.7 cumulative culmative GPA (CGPA) and have completed at least 24 credits toward your current degree program by the time you leave for the program.
- Be enrolled in a Master’s degree program, with a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA (CGPA) and have completed at least 9 credits toward your current degree program by the departure date.
- Faculty can override GPA requirement on an individual basis as part of the selection process
- Student may not repeat this Field School for credit.
Applicants must attend any one of the following sessions:
- Thursday, January 15, 1:30-3 p.m. EV10.730
- Friday January 16, 11 am-12:30 p.m. on Zoom
- Thursday, January 22, 6-7:30 p.m. in EV2.645;
- Wednesday, January 28, 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon, EV10.730;
- Wednesday, February 4, 2-3:30 p.m. EV2.645
- Submit the Concordia Field School Abroad Application by the application deadline of February 9, 2026. The application can be accessed through the Concordia International CSEP Mobility Portal.
- Your application must also include:
- A copy of your most recent transcript. An unofficial Concordia transcript.
- A letter of intent of 500-750 words outlining a student’s reason for wishing to attend the Iceland Field School, a description of the project they intend to develop while in Blönduós, and the date of the information session they attended.
- A portfolio of 5 relevant creative or scholarly works – images, links to websites, text excerpts – and accompanying descriptive material submitted in one PDF (5 GB MAX). Applicants may also be required to meet for a brief interview.
- Final admissions decisions will be made by the program monitor, Dr. Vaughan.
- By March 6, 2026, admitted students must make a non refundable payment of $1550 CAD on their Concordia student account towards costs of the Field School.
- The Icelandic Textile Centre requires all participating students to read the Centre’s rules and policies and sign a waiver (will be provided to participants admitted to the program).
Students admitted to the program will have to attend a mandatory pre-departure meeting held by Concordia International through the following Zoom link on TBC.
All information on this website is subject to change without notice. The program is subject to cancellation at any time and for any reason. 16 participants will be selected to participate in the program.
Academic Inquiries
Professor, Department of Art Education