Saturday, May 30, 2009

Fontbonne University- Erin Cork


EXHIBITING GALLERY: Fontbonne University Art Gallery

TITLE OF SHOW: Sift, Measure, Cultivate

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: August 28th, 2009 - September 27th, 2009

Opening Reception: August 28th, 2009 from 6 to 8 pm

Artist Talk: September 26th, 2009 at 4 pm in the gallery

Workshop: October 3rd, 2009 from 9 am to 3 pm

SHORT BYLINE/ DESCRIPTION OF SHOW: three artists: Courtney Henson, Erin Cork and Gina Alvarez, will exhibit a collection of recent work

Fontbonne University Art Gallery
6800 Wydown Bvld.
St. Louis, Missouri 63105
314.889.1431
http://www.fontbonne.edu/academics/undergraduatedegreeprogram/finearts/galleryoffinearts.htm


Erin K. Cork

How do you go about creating a piece of work and what goes through your mind from start to finish?

 

When I begin a piece, it is begun as an impulse. I have an idea or a desire to create something and I begin working by doing.  The initial idea and the process begin the piece. Once the piece has begun, I reevaluate. I take time to sketch, plan and determine the course of action that will come next. I think about what I desire for the piece to be about and move forward from there. In creating I enjoy a balance between control over the materials and the materials being in control. I think of it like cultivation. I am the caretaker, but I do not have ultimate control of the outcome. For a great deal of what I create there is not a point of finishing. Often times once a piece is completed and installed I see room for more or the potential for other possibilities. Often, pieces have their own lives and I am interested in reusing elements over again, changing them and letting them grow into something more than where they began.

 

What possession do you most cherish?

 

Some of my most cherished possessions were things that belonged to my grandmother. I remember these things when she owned them. I have a history with them as well. With these possessions, as well as any object that has been owned and used by someone else there is an element of that person on the object. For the things that I own of my grandmothers, I think about how she used/wore/displayed them.  I feel closer to her because I have these objects, but I think in general owning/using objects from the past keep us conscious of a past time.

 

Where do you find materials to create with?

 

Many of my materials are found. I enjoy the hunt that is required to seek out materials – fabrics, furniture, fixtures and shelves. Places like St. Vincent DePaul Society and Salvation Army provide great materials and often serve as inspiration for my work. In terms of the yarns and wools that I use, I try to patronize locally owned establishments. Knitty Couture in University City and Knitorious in South City are where I frequent for wool and alpaca yarns. Most of the materials that I use to dye I purchase at the grocery store, except walnuts. I have a great friend Pat who is my walnut supplier. For the merino wool that I use for felting I usually purchase from Woodland Wool Works online – they have great customer service.

 

 

What is the source of your creativity? How much is from within? How much comes from outside sources?

 

I derive a great deal of inspiration from everyday events. Domestic life and the natural world spur my ideas. The way that I manipulate real occurrences comes from within. Combining two things (nature and domestic culture) that aren’t integrated in reality is where my internal creativity comes into play. I use creative thinking exercises to exhaust all possible options for a piece. Then I have a long list of ideas to choose from.

 

Is the face of fiber art changing? How so?

 

Within the title of fiber art, I believe that there is room for many different types of work. Fiber art is also one of the most accepting media areas, where not only materials, but process can allow your work to fit into the category of fiber arts. There are a number of artist who have pushed fiber art into the fine art world and I see this continuing to happen. The idea of what fiber art is, is expanding and pushing and creating conversations with artists who identify themselves as fine artists. By rooting their work in ideas that engage fine art as well as rooting themselves in a process focused way of creating, fiber art and fine art come together. Historically, fiber arts have been integral to society as functional and have a long and fascinating history – to me this history is just as interesting and valid as the history of painting or sculpture. Coming out of a functional history creates a particular connotation with any work that engages fiber art ideals, but artists are using that to their advantage. Fiber art is becoming no longer just about how a piece is made in terms of technique and materials, but the technique and materials are becoming integrated into the idea as well. The use of terms connected to fiber art such as domestic were once thought of as low, but more and more these ideas connected to fiber art are becoming acceptable in fine art realms. The conversation that is occurring between fine art and fiber art is thrilling to me – someone who feels as if they have just begun their career as an artist.  I’m enthusiastic to be apart of this conversation because there is room to chart a course that hasn’t been taken before.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Fontbonne University- Courtney Henson

EXHIBITING GALLERY: Fontbonne University Art Gallery

TITLE OF SHOW: Sift, Measure, Cultivate

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: August 28th, 2009 - September 27th, 2009

Opening Reception: August 28th, 2009 from 6 to 8 pm

Artist Talk: September 26th, 2009 at 4 pm in the gallery

Workshop: October 3rd, 2009 from 9 am to 3 pm

SHORT BYLINE/ DESCRIPTION OF SHOW: three artists: Courtney Henson, Erin Cork and Gina Alvarez, will exhibit a collection of recent work

Fontbonne University Art Gallery
6800 Wydown Bvld.
St. Louis, Missouri 63105
314.889.1431
http://www.fontbonne.edu/academics/undergraduatedegreeprogram/finearts/galleryoffinearts.htm

  • Apart from creating things, what do you do?

    I work at the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts and have interest in being an all around cheerleader for the visual arts in St. Louis.

  • What are some of the things you do to keep yourself creative?

I get out to art openings and concerts- both visual and audio stimulations are neccessary for me to formulate new ideas. I require hearing wonderful lyrics to motivate my own poetry and quiet beats to keep my hands in rhythm.

  • Please describe your creative process: how you create, when, where, with what materials…

I am drawn to unusual materials to help my creative process. I enjoy things that look very out of control and organic. I also view my creative process as a series of experiments where I create, observe, and re-create in order to improve the original work.

  • Name your top five: musicians, books, movies, websites, artists… (provide a link to websites or artists websites if at all possible)

    Currently Andrew Bird’s lyrics are a huge inspiration. I also enjoy reading books that deal with the historical relevance of museums and methods of displaying our visual culture. I have formed a new connection to the work of Marcel Duchamp upon a recent trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I have a love of all the movies created by Darren Aronofsky, most recently The Wrestler.

  •   Could you do your art without an audience? How important is feedback?                         
I require the viewer, often the work is participatory in nature. I have created works that needed the viewer’s observations of small growing experiments in order to produce later exhibitions- so on occasion there might be no work if it were not for the viewer and his or her feedback.

- Courtney Henson

Fontbonne University- Gina T. Alvarez

EXHIBITING GALLERY: Fontbonne University Art Gallery

TITLE OF SHOW: Sift, Measure, Cultivate

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: August 28th, 2009 - September 27th, 2009

Opening Reception: August 28th, 2009 from 6 to 8 pm

Artist Talk: September 26th, 2009 at 4 pm in the gallery

Workshop: October 3rd, 2009 from 9 am to 3 pm

SHORT BYLINE/ DESCRIPTION OF SHOW: three artists: Courtney Henson, Erin Cork and Gina Alvarez, will exhibit a collection of recent work

Fontbonne University Art Gallery
6800 Wydown Bvld.
St. Louis, Missouri 63105
314.889.1431
http://www.fontbonne.edu/academics/undergraduatedegreeprogram/finearts/galleryoffinearts.htm

a little about me: Gina Alvarez

i was born in racine wisconsin in 1974. i have one younger brother - peter. we had an amazing childhood. we lived in a neighborhood that was safe and there were tons of kids. i literally was supposed to be home when the street lights came on. we had so much freedom. i was a gymnast and a diver. i considered applying to the naval academy (although i doubt i would have gotten in) because they had/have an amazing diving program. thank god that didn't happen. all throughout high school i took ceramic and jewelry making classes. i also took typing. for some reason this tid bit is a formative element in my life. i went to college for a couple years after high school and droped out for 5. worked in a plywood factory, grocery store, book store, peanut shop and did the obligatory babysitting gig here and there.

i lived in charleston sc and to this day miss it something terrible. i rode my bike everywhere. i miss living in a pedestrian culture. i spent time in italy - rode my bike everywhere there as well. in my mind charleston and florence are the same. my independance and love of place was born out of these two cities. 

i have lived in st. louis, mo for 8 years. we came here for graduate school. i attended wash u and received a masters in printmaking/drawing. i can't believe we still live here. i live in dogtown and love it. i have a beautiful (small) home and love to garden. my husband is a high school spanish teacher. we have a 3yr old son named oscar and two cats - mo mo and ce ce (moses and seymour). i am thrilled that i am still making art. one of my biggest worries is that i will never live up to my true potential. i think i get closer every day - every project and every relationship.

here is a video of what i am up to in the studio:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRH_UsswWEA

i also attached two images of the doillies (doillie+sky and doillie closeup)




two images of my favorite things:
  
one is a bird my grandfather started carving for me but didn't finished - that is okay, i like the roughness of it - his pencil marks are still where the feathers should be carved. i used to sit with him and whittle away at wood. he was a great craftsman.

the other my grandmother's sewing box. the two of us would spend hours at the sewing machine. my grandmother was an extremely talented lady.

websites i can't live with out:

http://www.designspongeonline.com/
http://camillaengman.blogspot.com/
http://www.etsy.com/
http://bookhouathome.blogspot.com/
http://alabamachanin.com/

new obsessions:

http://www.petermarigold.com/
http://karengelardi.com/
http://www.jarodcharzewski.com
http://www.mina-perhonen.jp/index_en.html

i am pretty fluid when it comes to working in the studio. i have to have a lot of "materials" at hand. i have an amazing tray full of discarded bits and pieces. a lot of it is hand printed materials that have been cut up and used in other works. i don't really throw anything away. i think that there is always a use. i adopt the same responsibility when it comes to previous projects, installations or works on paper. all of it is fair game so to speak. i enjoy the recycling of ideas and materials. 

when it comes to generating images or ideas it is just that - generating. i generate through working. often i don't have a set idea when i begin any one thing. the idea/project is born out of the process of creating. in most cases it is like a puzzle. i create the pieces and then i put them together. the information that is solid in my mind from the get go is often the size of the space that i would like to fill or the size of the installation/work on paper that i would like to create. then i dive in. i work with repetition quite often so a number usually stands out. i like to trick myself into thinking i need to create way more than i actually do. this is to prevent self editing to set in early on. there is no bad idea - all roads lead to something worth exploring. 

having exciting materials at hand helps make this possible. it is important to me to use materials that offer the chance to transcend their original purpose. if i see the potential in a material to offer something that is unexpected then i know i have something to work with. i love materials - soap, latex, paper, handmade paper, fabric, horse hair, clay and lights. i think that working heavily (for me) with materials is a strategy that i have created for myself that allows me to make mistakes. drawing seems really precious to me and i can get really nervous if i have to put pencil to paper but if i sew into the paper, which functions exactly like a drawn mark, then i feel more at ease. so i draw with materials, i draw 3 dimensionally. i love it. 

okay, i am going on and on. this is really enlightening to me. i am going to stop here. i am super thrilled to be a part of innovations. i am excited to work with courtney henson and erin cork. i think that they are super talented ladies and i a look forward to our exhibition. 

that is how i function!
- gina t alvarez

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

RAC- Lindsay Obermeyer


EXHIBITING GALLERY:  RAC- Regional Arts Commission

TITLE OF SHOW:  Sing the Body Electric

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE:  September 11  October 11  2009

CURATOR OR JUROR:   Sarah Colby

SHORT BYLINE/ DESCRIPTION OF SHOW:

Three artists

Lindsay Obermeyer, Julia Karll, Jennifer Wilkey


RAC- Regional Arts Commission

6128 Delmar Bvld.

St. Louis, Missouri 63112

314.863.5811

RAC Website: http://www.art-stl.com/

ArtsZipper Calendar- for everything cool in St. Louis:  http://www.art-stl.com/ArtsZipper/



Lindsay Obermeyer, artist

 

  • Apart from creating things, what do you do?

In the past few years I’ve become an Internet junky.  I admit to my geekhood! I write a blog called Serendipity (http://loops.typepad.com) and have since started a blog for my local community garden.    Teaching and the sharing of information is an integral part of my part of my art practice.  These days I teach outreach for several art centers and am the current visual arts researcher for the Chicago Artists Resource website which is affiliated with City of Chicago’s Dept. of Cultural Affairs.

 

  • What possession do you most cherish?

 

I’d be completely lost without my needlework case.  It holds the basic tools of my trade – scissors, tape measure, various needles, a thimble, stitch markers, etc.  The case itself is made of Cambodian silk, hand dyed and woven by landmine victims.  It reminds me of how fortunate I am.  The case and tools are all gifts from family and friends.  Each object contains a meaningful memory for me.

 

  • What is your ideal day in the studio? What is your agenda? What music do you listen to?

 

An ideal day in the studio is one without interruption. It begins with a review of my email, blog, Etsy and Facebook accounts.  I will spend an hour or two on correspondence and then head to my studio.  The center of my studio is in the basement of my home though I tend to knit in my living room and do dye work in the garden.  It’s convenient.  I can work in my pajamas if I want.  I don’t have a set agenda for working.  It depends on my exhibition schedule. 

 

As for music, well that’s easy, the blues!  Okay, I also listen to funk, acid jazz, big band jazz, old school rap, French bistro music, and yes, even disco - anything with a good beat. When knitting, I will more often switch to audiobooks.   There is something about knitting and story telling that goes hand in hand.

 

  • What is the source of your creativity? How much is from within? How much comes from outside sources?

 

The personal is political.  My life is the starting point.  I always do research.  The research can take several months before I hit saturation level, which is fine as I work on one series while researching the next.

 

I also find my design work launches new ideas.  I’m a project designer for Lark Books and have an Etsy shop.  I’m constantly experimenting with different materials.


  • What are your favorite materials to work with?

 

When knitting I prefer to work with wool or mohair.  I love the spring of wool and how it can be felted.  Mohair has a lovely “halo” effect when lit under gallery lights.  As for my beadwork, I prefer to use Czech seed beads, though I will use beads from Japan and other countries.  They are slightly quirkier than the precision perfection of the Japanese beads.  Any and all light- reflective materials entrance me, so I tend to use silk or silk velvet for the background of my bead embroideries.


Visit Lindsay's website at: http://www.lbostudio.com

Or her website on her community based work, The Red Thread Project- which will be performed at the St. Louis Artists' Guild on September 27th, 2009 at 1:00 pm: http://www.theredthreadproject.com/

Craft Alliance- Luanne Rimel


    EXHIBITING GALLERY: Craft Alliance- Delmar Loop Gallery

    TITLE OF SHOW: Elements: The Art of Textile Collage

    OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: September 11th - October 25th, 2009

    CURATOR OR JUROR: Barbara Simon


    ARTIST: Luanne Rimel

    Tell us a bit more about yourself: your location, professional affiliations, personal stuff…  

    I am both an artist and an educator as well an administrator at Craft Alliance in St. Louis, Missouri. I work full time as the Director of Education and Exhibition Programs at this 45 year old non-profit art center. But I am committed to making work and manage to find the time to create and exhibit. I have had studios both out of the house and in the basement and finally I took over my daughter’s second floor bedroom and sunroom when she moved to her own apartment two years ago. I can easily work in the evenings and on weekends when the time fits. I even use my “vacation days” to stay home and work in the studio. I have always been interested in textiles and remember early sewing projects for my Barbie Doll when I was 10 years old. I am drawn to the tactile quality of cloth and the history and significance of cloth throughout the world.  

    Please describe your creative process: how you create, when, where, with what materials… How do you go about creating a piece of work and what goes through your mind from start to finish? 

    For the last 10 years I have been inspired by the passage of time as it relates to the lingering memory of the present. I attempt to capture these ideas on cloth through abstract portraits of a moment. I take photos of these “moments” and print them onto cloth with a wide format inkjet printer, then layer, sometimes dye and paint, stitch descriptive poetry and collage to achieve the desired results. I have photographed ocean waves, elusive shadows, expressive hands and most recently, flowers from my garden. I love to garden and see this activity as another mode of artistic expression for me. For many years I always took the month of May to work in my yard and felt a bit guilty that I did not do any artwork during this time. But then one day I realized that what I was doing in the garden was very similar to how I worked in the studio: The larger activity of digging the ground corresponds to the activity of dyeing cloth. Then the selection of seeds and plants for their colors and textures relates to the studio process of selecting the parts that will combine to make the final piece. The careful planting and tending corresponds to the labor intensive final stitching and collage work on the cloth. My garden is an artwork in progress, colors and textures ever changing throughout the season.  

    In my current work, my garden is also my inspiration. The beauty of the slowly drying Calla Lily from my garden began my journey. I carefully stitched the flower to tea-dyed linen and let it continue to age - then photographed it. The photograph was printed onto the prepared flour-sack-cloth fabric through a wide format ink-jet printer. Detailed sections of the print were created and layered, collaged and stitched onto the cloth along with images of roots and bulbs. And more followed. Each botanical image is titled for one of the historical meanings of each flower – the Rose becomes “Passion”, the Tulip “Declaration” and so on. Now I view my emerging spring garden as not only its own art form, but also as possibilities for future textile pieces. And time is still the main concept – if I miss the blooming iris, I have to wait until next year.  

    What is your next project? 

    I an excited about this years Innovations in Textiles 8 because of the diverse processes, concepts, materials and techniques that will be on exhibit throughout the area and the dialogs that emerge from this kind of concentration. And my next project is a solo exhibit of over 20 pieces at the Missouri Botanical Gardens next March. My garden is full of ideas right now.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Barbara Lee Smith- Red Right Return #2 detail

Barbara Lee Smith- Red Right Return #2


Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Craft Alliance- Barbara Simon

EXHIBITING GALLERY: Craft Alliance

TITLE OF SHOW: Elements: The Art of Textile Collage

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: September 11th, 2009- October 25th, 2009

CURATOR: Barbara Simon


Craft Alliance

6640 Delmar Blvd.

St. Louis, MO 63130

www.craftalliance.org

TELL US A BIT MORE ABOUT YOURSELF; YOUR LOCATION, PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS, PERSONAL STUFF…..

I live in the NW corner of the USA on a small island - about a mile and a half around - in the southern part of Puget Sound. We're a couple of hours from the Pacific Ocean, but we still have 13-foot tides twice a day, the air smells of tides and cedars, and eagles have a nest just behind our house. This island location is a major inspiration for my work.

Last year we tore down the 1968 A-frame that was our home, and built ourselves a new place to live. For the year of tearing down and rebuilding, we lived in the space below my studio, otherwise known as the garage.

I'm a member of the NW Designer Craftsmen, an organization with a grand history. We live near Tacoma, which has some excellent museums. Two galleries represent my work on a continuing basis: Snyderman/Works in Philadelphia, and Jane Sauer Gallery in Santa Fe. I also welcome call-ahead visitors to my studio on Raft Island, Gig Harbor, Washington.

PLEASE DESCRIBE YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS:  HOW YOU CREATE, WHEN, WHERE, WITH WHAT MATERIALS……

WHAT IS A TYPICAL DAY FOR YOU? WHAT IS YOUR IDEAL DAY IN THE STUDIO? WHAT IS YOUR AGENDA? WHAT MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO?

(I'm answering two or three questions here.)

I'll start with the Where and When part of your questions. The studio is built over our garage behind the house. I have a commute of about 20 steps up the hill. My studio has great windows that look both onto Puget Sound and the woods next door. One wall is all pin-up space and works perfectly for all the collage elements that become part of the work.

I work all day, every day that I'm at home, including at least one weekend day, I'm embarrassed to admit. My day in the studio starts somewhere between 7 and 8 and goes to between 4 and 5PM. I love to work. While I realize that it's not the most efficient thing to do, I generally start with a quick perusal of email. This is often done before breakfast and the time after breakfast then begins the making part of the day. If I have to do some serious thinking and/or writing, however, it comes first while I'm fresh and not distracted by email, music or the phone.

Once I begin to work and enjoy a little distraction, then I listen to all sorts of music: jazz, gospel, R and B, classical, and while I'm at the sewing machine, books on CD on my iPod and with noise-canceling headphones. (My industrial sewing machine is very loud and I found I became tired just from the sound.)

I try to time the painting portion of the work - the first step - for a good day when I can keep the garage door open. That means that I try to do a lot of painting in the months when it's not raining! Once the painting is made, it goes up on the studio wall where I stare at it a lot, trying to decide if I'll use all or a portion of it as the background layer. Once that decision is made, I begin to collage small elements of the same painted material on that layer. Once the composition satisfies me - and that may take days - the collage elements are heat-fused onto the painting, more layers of the same non-woven material are fused together to make it rather stiff.

Sewing comes last.  It literally and figuratively ties the work together with lines of machine stitching that form a topological map on the surface. I can only let myself sew for an hour or so at a time, because my back refuses to cooperate otherwise. Consequently, I usually have two or three pieces going at a time. This allows me to change positions frequently, but also allows time for the work to gestate a bit while I focus on another piece.

 The work has Velcro on the back layer that is caught in with the machine stitching. The Velcro matches up to its partner on a hidden frame, thus floating the work off the surface of the wall for its final presentation.

 

WHAT IS YOUR NEXT PROJECT?

I am working with the Gregg Museum at North Carolina State University in Raleigh on a project for 2011. I am the guest curator for an exhibition that will have about a dozen artists working with the theme, "Traces". The artists have been chosen, the grants are in the requesting process now, and we're beginning the plans for a major symposium to be held in March of 2011 in connection with the exhibition. We're presently working on ideas for the catalogue. It's a delightful, engaging project and I'm reading all sorts of materials that I wouldn't have had the excuse to do without this great invitation.

The other part of the invitation was to have a solo show of my work in the smaller gallery at the Gregg for the time span - spring semester. So I'm just beginning to do some serious thinking about the kinds of works I want to display. It gives me a good reason - in case I need one - to return to the studio every day!

Barbara Lee Smith- Exhibiting Artist in Elements: The Art of Textile Collage 

 

Craft Alliance- Joan Schultz










Joan Schultz- exhibiting in Elements: The Art of Textile Collage

Craft Alliance- Barbara Simon

EXHIBITING GALLERY: 

Craft Alliance

6640 Delmar Bvld.

St. Louis, Missouri 63130

http://www.craftalliance.org


TITLE OF SHOW: Elements: The Art of Textile Collage

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: September 11th, 2009- October 25th, 2009

CURATOR: Barbara Simon


I am a textile artist,lecturer and curator of textile exhibits  After many years of working within the structured grid of the loom, I have found new freedom in the intuitive possibilities of textile & paper collage.

My inspiration comes from places and experiences that have touched me deeply and left an incredible mark.  I am attracted to the beauty of patterns found in nature, as well as the words and rhythms of poets.  I use collage to express my respect for the natural world and my interest in preservation.

I work in my studio on Sidney Street.  Sometime I begin a new piece with a preconceived idea, from a photo or remembered experience. Often  I start by making stacks of fabrics selected from my shelves by color and pattern, decide on the best combination and alter many of the pieces with surface design techniques.

To sir my creativity I take walks in places where there is a natural environment , visit museums and galleries and read poetry. Another source of inspiration is my collection of landscape photographs that I often print on or transfer to fabric. Music provides a satisfying background .

Barbara Simon- Curator and exhibiting artist -Elements,The Art of Textile Collage

IT8 Blog Questions

These following questions are the list of questions given to gallery directors, curators, exhibiting artists and workshop leaders. Those people were asked to pick any five of the questions below and respond to them with a paragraph. The responses are proving to be as diverse as the questions.
  • Tell us a bit more about yourself: your location, professional affiliations, personal stuff…
  • Apart from creating things, what do you do?
  • What first inspired you to become an artist?
  • Please describe your creative process: how you create, when, where, with what materials…
  • What possession do you most cherish?
  • How do you go about creating a piece of work and what goes through your mind from start to finish?
  • What is a typical day for you?
  • What is your ideal day in the studio? What is your agenda? What music do you listen to?
  • What are some of the things you do to keep yourself creative?
  • When do you feel you hit your stride as an artist?
  • What is the source of your creativity? How much is from within? How much comes from outside sources?
  • Could you do your art without an audience? How important is feedback?
  • Did you chose or were you chosen to create art?
  • What are your methods of visualization?
  • How does your process of creating an art object begin?
  • What helps create a suitable environment for making art?
  • What are your favorite materials to work with?
  • Where do you find materials to create with? Names of shops or internet sites…
  • Name your top five: musicians, books, movies, websites, artists… (provide a link to websites or artists websites if at all possible)
  • What are materials that illicit the most response from you in viewing work?
  • Define fiber art through your lense as an artist or audience member.
  • What most excites you about this year’s Innovations in Textile 8 collaboration?
  • If you didn’t work with fiber, what media would you work with? Why?
  • Is the face of fiber art changing? How so?
  • What is your next project?

IT8 Blog Introduction

This is the first post of the Innovations in Textiles 8 Blog. Innovations in Textiles 8 (IT8) is a consortium of galleries and art venues in St. Louis and the surrounding area who are all exhibiting work focused on the theme of innovations in textile art. There are nearly 20 participating venues and galleries showing a wide variety of fiber based art work starting now through the end of November.  The blog is aimed to create a center of information regarding the shows. We have asked the gallery directors of the different venues to have participating artists, curators, workshop leaders and exhibition organizers to respond to five questions concerning how they work, where they gain inspiration and their ideas about the state of contemporary fiber art. The responses are listed below. We will be posting responses on a regular basis so please visit the blog often and share with friends. You can find out more information on this series of exhibits by visiting the Craft Alliance website. It will have links to many of the participating galleries.