Judi Jetson is a weaver, spinner and dyer who works in bold colors and textures, making rugs, garments and hangings. An arts entrepreneur, Judi co-owned Handmade in Florida Craft Gallery in Ybor City with Gary Burge from 2004-2006, and recruited an international weaving conference (Convergence) bringing 2,000 fiber artists to Tampa Bay in June of 2008. As Community Exhibits Chair for Convergence, Judi helped organize 50 shows around the region. She founded a fiber economic development organization in 2011, Local Cloth, and is current President. She regularly teaches workshops in spinning, weaving and dyeing techniques.
Judi’s life’s work is creating partnerships to make communities and neighborhoods great places to live, work and play. As Director of Small Town Revitalization at HandMade in America from 2010-2013 she worked with volunteer leaders in 13 towns throughout Western North Carolina on community economic development projects. As Director of the University of South Florida Collaborative from 1998-2010, she helped nonprofits and low-income neighborhoods connect with faculty by organizing conferences and workshops, awarding small grants, offering summer internships to youth, and speaking about university-community engagement. She did similar work at the University of Kansas.
Judi’s also been a downtown redevelopment consultant, worked for the US Small Business Administration, and managed a national research center for state elected officials. She loves to get people together, make music, learn something new every day, and stretch boundaries.
Judi Jetson 