06/15/2026
A huge heartfelt thank you to all the wonderful souls who created and/or supported the Hung'ry Bag scholarship!!
Finally, in April we met the recipient of the first Hung'ry Bag Scholarship. She traveled over 30 hours to participate in the East Hungary Felt Tour.
This is what the international collaborative support meant for her:
"The Hung'ry Bag scholarship has been nothing short of life changing for me. I applied for the Hung'ry Bag Scholarship at the last minute.... so much has happened in 3 years. In June 2022 I got Covid and a brain injury as a result... I spent 3 months in the hospital and had to learn to walk and talk again. I spent 18 months doing rehab. I lost my mom and then in less than 12 months I had lost my soul mate. Since my brain injury, life has taken a bizarre yet wonderful change of direction. I'm now quite good at art... and that's how I got into felting.
With nothing to lose I applied for the scholarship and was delighted to be chosen as the winner.
A few people thought I was crazy traveling with a brain injury, but I don't want to be defined by that.
As for Flóra, tour guide extraordinary, she is delightful, thoughtful and very accommodating to our needs. She works hard tracking down exceptional, world class tutors, exhibits and galleries to visit and cultural events to enhance our time. We saw many brilliant exhibitions and learned cultural history whilst exploring Budapest, Gödöllő, Kecskemét and Debrecen. We attended the Shepherd's Festival on the UNESCO world heritage site, Hortobágy, and visited a 6th generation felt hat maker in Balmazújváros.
We had a studio tour and workshop by world famous Judit Pócs, Gabriella Kovács, Anikó Boros and Mihály Vetró.
We shopped, walked, felted, and made best friends.
It has been an absolute delight to be involved with people who love fibre as much as me.
Thank you to those fine ladies who established the Hung'ry Bag scholarship, for without that I probably would never have come.
Cheers,
Nicola (Tasmania)"
If you are in a position to help support such a life changing experience, the next round is up on Gofundme.
Link in comments.