fibre Quarterly volume 3 issue 1 winter 2007
Janice Lessman-Moss, Wendy Weiss, J.Penny Burton
Textile Narratives and
Conversations
Janice
Lessman-Moss
TSA External Relations Director
From
October 11 through 14, 2006 the Textile Society of America’s international membership convened in Toronto, Canada for it’s 10th
biennial Symposium. Founded in
1988, the TSA established the symposium as the organization’s core event
to reflect their mission to “provide an international forum for the
exchange and dissemination of information about textiles worldwide, from
artistic, cultural, economic, historic, political, social and technical
perspectives.” The breadth
and depth of this year’s offerings, which began with an inspiring
keynote address by author Wade Davis and included a diverse range of
papers, panels, discussions, and plenary sessions brilliantly, encompassed
the goal of TSA’s mission. Hosted
by the Textile Museum of Canada and the Harbourfront Centre, the Symposium
“Textile Narratives + Conversations” organized by Nataley Nagy and
Frances Dorsey, featured a record number of speakers and participants
drawn from 12 countries around the world. An introductory workshop,
“Identifying Textiles: Techniques and Terminology,” provided a
wonderful beginning to the proceedings. The 2006 Symposium was augmented by many exciting pre- and post
conference textile related tours to galleries, museum, collections,
markets and Toronto’s culturally rich neighbourhoods.
The
TSA’s commitment to professional development and advancement of the
field was celebrated again at this year’s Symposium with the recognition
of several awards programs. The
Lillian Elliot Award for an outstanding fibre artist was presented to
Andrea Vander Kooij of Montreal Canada. The R.L. Shep Book Award, given annually to the best book of the
year in the field of ethnic textile studies went to David W. and Barbara
Fraser for Mantles of Merit: Chin Textiles from Myanman, India and
Bangladesh and to Arctic Clothing of North America - Alaska, Canada, Greenland, edited by
J.C.H King, Birgit Pauksztat and Robert Storrie. This Symposium also marked the inauguration of the Student/New
Professional Scholarships and the announcement of a new award named in honour
of the founding presidents (Peggy Gilfoy (deceased), Miton Sonday, Lotus
Stack, Mattiebelle Gittinger and Louise W. Mackie). The first recipients
will be awarded funding for participation in our 11th biennial Symposium
“Textiles as Cultural Expressions” to be held in Honolulu Hawaii from
September 24 through 27, 2008.
Conference
proceedings for the TSA 10th Biennial Symposium will be forthcoming to TSA
members in the spring. To
become a member and learn more about the next symposium please visit our
website at www.textilesociety.org
Other
opportunities and deadlines:
Abstracts
and Panel Proposals for the 11th Biennial Symposium “Textiles as
Cultural Expressions” are due by October 1, 2007.
Nominations
for the R.L. Shep Book Award for books published in 2006 are due by March
15, 2007.
Please
check our website for additional details and further information about
membership, tours and the latest news.
(Reference:
Carol Bier, TSA President, TSA Winter 2007 Newsletter)
Janice
Lessman-Moss, TSA External Relations Director, jlessman@kent.edu
Wendy Weiss was Chair and presenter in the Culture and Content: Innovation in Education session. She is professor of Textiles, Clothing and Design in the College of Education and Human Sciences at University of Nebraska- Lincoln
Image from Give and Take: The Artist/Student Dialogue February 5 - March 2, 2007.at the Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery in Lincoln Nebraska
Wendy Weiss was Chair and presenter in the Culture and Content: Innovation in Education session. She is professor of Textiles, Clothing and Design in the College of Education and Human Sciences at University of Nebraska- Lincoln . Here she speaks of her department rather then here experience at the TSA Symposium.
Nebraska
is situated in the great plains of the United States with scant
population—23 people per square mile—and it only takes us 18 minutes
to drive to work. The
population of the entire state is less than 1.8 million while in Lincoln
we have 240,000 and 3,030 people per square mile. Thirty-six percent of
the total population lives in Omaha and Lincoln clustered on the eastern
edge of the state. It takes a full day to drive from one side of the state
to the other.
So why, you might ask, does Lincoln,
Nebraska have such a vibrant textile arts community?
We are home to both the Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery,
established in 1994, and the International Quilt Studies Center,
established in 1997. Prior to the development of these two entities, both
housed in the Textiles, Clothing and Design Department at the University
of Nebraska, which is part of the College of Education and Human Sciences,
the department had teaching collections of historic textiles and costumes,
which we periodically exhibited in showcases in the hallway or other
university gallery spaces. If
we wanted to show student work, we had to find places around campus and in
the community.
With shifting academic times in the
early 1990’s programs moved and space became available for creating the
venue now known as the Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery. We sealed a
teaching classroom to exterior light, painted the ceiling black, installed
track lighting with rheostats, covered the walls with durable carpeting,
and put in a security system to protect the work.
Without adding extra staff, we have
managed to create an international exhibition space that promotes
contemporary work in our field, showcases the work of our own
undergraduate and graduate students, and features work from our
collections. We have
approximately nine exhibitions each year and have produced 3 full color
catalogues featuring the work of three different artists:
Jane Sauer, Ana Lisa Hedstrom and Cynthia Schira.
Additionally, we have published full color brochures with critical
essays for artists Nancy Koenigsberg and Lewis Knauss.
We regularly offer workshops to the public by our visiting artists
and invite children and youth into the gallery from the local public
schools.
We operate on a shoestring budget and
have worked hard to create a supportive Friends organization that raises
money to help underwrite our exhibitions.
The Nebraska Arts Council has consistently provided funding for our
exhibitions and other granting agencies, foundations and individuals have
helped to underwrite our programs over the years.
Graduate student assistantships have been crucial to provide
staffing for the ongoing work of the gallery.
Students have taken on major responsibilities for designing
promotional material, installing exhibitions, unpacking and packing shows,
and writing grant proposals. Department staff fulfills essential roles
including budget management and web page production.
Faculty committee members from the
department govern the gallery and determine the programming.
As director of the gallery, I am responsible for general oversight
of the exhibitions, promotion and programming. Frequently colleagues
assume curatorial responsibility for specific exhibitions.
When graduate students choose to curate an exhibition from the
International Quilt Study Collection or other collections, they work with
their advisor to develop the exhibition plan, design and funding.
The chance to be director of this gallery has been a fabulous opportunity. It has provided me with the chance to form friendships with a wide array of incredible artists and allowed me to contribute to the visibility of a field that I love and believe is vital and evolving. Please visit our web page at http://textilegallery.unl.edu/ and make plans to come to Nebraska.
Wendy Weiss is professor of
Textiles, Clothing and Design in the College of Education and Human
Sciences at University of Nebraska- Lincoln where she has been on the
faculty since 1986. She is director of the Robert Hillestad Textiles
Gallery. She teaches woven and non-woven textile design, surface design,
foundation and graduate level courses.
In 2002 she earned a Winterthur Museum and Library Residential Fellowship where she studied weaving manuscripts to adapt complex weave structure for contemporary artwork. In her current creative work she is collaborating with Jay Kreimer to make environments that integrate sound, movement, video and hand woven sculpture. Ground Shift was recently exhibited at the District of Columbia Art Center.
Image Two left to right; Body Parts Sue Benner, Walking Over Hot Coals, Terrie Hancock Mangat, Tall Formations, Judy Langille, MOOG, Jan Myers-Newbury (detailed information below)
J.
Penney Burton presented a
paper as part of the Objects of Memory session,
she is
currently completing her MA at Concordia University in Montreal and here
she writes of her
experience at the TSA:
This
October, I had the great fortune to be able to attend my first ever
Textile Society of America symposium.
For many years now, I had been reading about the symposiums, as
well as hearing reports from professors who had attended past sessions.
The fact that the symposium was in
Abstract from TSA Symposium Presentations:
Textiles: Stories from the Canadian Front by J.
Penney Burton
The craft of storytelling has all but disappeared from the Western cultural context and there remain few peoples whose oral traditions are still a prominent part of their everyday lives and culture. There are, however, many who believe that it is part of the artist’s role in society to comment on and share their stories and heritage in an effort to fill this void. This paper will explore the textual or narrative content in the work 0 two prominent and emerging Canadian fibre artists: Anna Torma from Baie Vert, New Brunswick and Candice Tarnowski from Calgary, Alberta. The work of Anna Torma speaks of her close family relationships as she often incorporates ideas and drawings created by her children into her detailed and narrative quilt pieces. This intergenerational collaboration results in unique and engaging work. Torma’s work also references her experiences as a Hungarian immigrant, now living and working in Canada. Candice Tarnowski creates tiny imaginary beings and worlds which speak of feelings of alienation and evoke longing for a social togetherness that is seemingly impossible in our world today. She is known for combining materials from her immediate environment with objects and materials that are imbued with her own personal meaning. Tarnowski is currently working towards her MFA at Concordia University. The voices of these women will be evident in this presentation, with images of their work being interwoven with their comments collected from personal interviews with the author.
Draw me a Garden © 2006 Anna Torma,
provided by Art Gallery Of Hamilton and used with permission to view a large version of this image
click on it, to read a review of Anna' recent show click
here
J. Penney Burton is currently completing her MA in the Special Individualized Program at Concordia University combining Art and Craft History and Studio Art. She received her Interdisciplinary BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 2004. She has been the recipient of a Canada Graduate Masters Scholarship from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, several Concordia University Graduate Fellowships, and was one of five people chosen to receive the Textile Society of America Student - New Professional Scholarship in October of 2006.
Information about the images and the Give and Take Exhibition provided by Wendy Weiss:
Image one, left to right,
The Gift, Hollis Chatelain, Hillsborough, NC, 2006, 48" x 52", 100% cotton fabric, polyester/cotton batting, Hand dye-painted with thickened fibre reactive dyes
The Punch Bowl
/ Star: Card #17 in the Kitchen Tar, Susan Shie, Wooster, OH, 2006,
84” x 63”,Kona cotton, paint markers, fabric paint, one green temple Buddha
bead, one Peace Cozy. Painted whole cloth, hand-brushed, air pen, machine
quilted, hand sewing.
Image Two left to right
Body Parts
(zebra sleeve, paisley sleeve) Sue Benner, Dallas, TX, 2007, 81” x
61”, Dye and paint on silk and cotton by artist; hand-dyed cottons by
Heide Stoll-Weber, Helene Davis, Judy Bianchi, and Carlene Keller; found
fabrics, Fused, mono-printed, machine quilted
Walking Over
Hot Coals, Terrie Hancock Mangat, Taos, NM, 2006, 89” x 83”, Sheer
hand-dyed silk, hand-woven and over-dyed ASOK cloth from Africa, Easter
candy foils, river stones, glow in the dark plastic skeletons,
disintegrating American flag, Ikat cotton, hand-dyed cotton, Reverse
appliqué, hand embroidery, hand appliqué, top-stitching, hand quilting,
and painting with acrylic paint.
Tall Formations,
Judy Langille, Glen Ridge, NJ, 2007, 55.5” x 56.5”, Cotton, mx
thickened dyes, discharge paste, flannel, and threads, Torn paper resist,
with layers of thickened dyes and discharge paste silkscreened through a
blank screen, thermofax screened, fused, and machine stitched.
MOOG, Jan Myers-Newbury, Pittsburgh, PA, 2006, 68” x 72”, 100% Kona cotton, dyed with Procion dyes; cotton batting,
Give and Take:
The Artist/Student Dialogue which ran February 5 - March 2, 2007. at
the Robert Hillestad Textiles
Gallery in Lincoln Nebraska
"Give and Take" featured quilts created by artists who
have been instructors, students or both at the Quilt
Surface Design Symposium (QSDS). The QSDS is a two-week
educational program for non-traditional quilters held each year in
Columbus, Ohio. The show celebrates the importance of the teacher and
student relationship among quilt artists. The work of a representative
group of professional quilt artists will be paired with work of their
students.
The pairs of instructor and student artists are:
Sue Benner and Ginny Smith Elizabeth Busch and Emily Richardson Jane Burch
Cochran and Cathy Jeffers Caryl Bryer-Fallert and Hollis Chatelain Terrie
Hancock Mangat and Beth Kennedy Therese May and Sally Sellers Jan Myers
Newbury and Judy Langille Arturo Sandoval and Niki Bonnett Susan Shie and
Elizabeth Cherry Owen.
Works by several of these artists are held in the permanent collections of
the International Quilt Study Center.
"Give and Take" was on during the
International Quilt Study Center's scholarly symposium, "Traditions
and Trajectories: Education and the Quiltmaker", March 1-3, 2007.
Several other quilt exhibitions will be held in Lincoln at the same time.
These will include Reading, Writing and a Rhythmic Stitch at the Great
Plains Art Museum, Quilts A to Z at the Museum of Nebraska History,
Tactile Traces and Mapping the Surface at the Lux Center and European Art
Quilts IV at the Haydon Art Center.
links in this article
International Quilt Study Center'
Quilt Surface Design Symposium
Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery