Call for Entries : Good Work

We here are fortunate to share a wonderful second space with Jordana Martin of Oak Knit Studio. In this space, upstairs from TAC, is where the Artist Residency and resource library are housed. In addition, there is a second Gallery. So, for the first show in this new space, Tali Weinberg — one of our talented residents — will be curating a show and day of workshops based around May Day, celebrating the textile workers, artists, designers, and activists who make our world more beautiful and just:

TO SEE THE FULL CALL FOR ENTRIES, PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE

Gallery Exhibition and May Day Celebration

Title: Good Work

Curated by Tali Weinberg

Textile Arts Center and Oak Knit Studio Gallery

Description

May Day is a celebration of spring, rejuvenation, fertility and life—a day to dance and weave the Maypole. And it is a day to honor laborers, to mark the social and economic achievements of the labor movement in the US, and for workers around the world to celebrate their ties to an international community.

This May Day the Textile Arts Center and Oak Knit Studio are celebrating the textile workers, artists, designers, and activists who make our world more beautiful and just—all makers tied together by the products of our labor—all makers whose work tries to do good in a multitude of ways. Artists and designers are invited to submit works for the exhibit Good Work in the Oak Knit Studio Gallery for the months of May and June that address related themes, including but not limited to labor, justice, gender, care, fair trade, the hand, immigration, skill and craftsmanship. Feel free to interpret the theme of “Good Work” broadly.

Artists, designers, and activists are invited to submit proposals for interactive workshops and presentations on related themes to take place at the Textile Arts Center. We strongly encourage submissions that engage the community, that present creative possibilities for the future, or that draw attention to local and contemporary textile labor, be it craft or industry. For workshops and presentations, we encourage proposals that include hands-on activities and take advantage of TAC facilities such as the screen-printing and sewing equipment.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: March 25, 2011

Exhibition Dates: April 29^th – June 12^th 2011

Opening Night: Friday, April 29^th

Artist Talks: TBD

Interactive Workshops: Sunday, May 1^st

About the curator:

Tali Weinberg is a Brooklyn-based activist, textile artist, teacher and scholar. She is currently an artist in residence at the Textile Arts Center.

TO SEE THE FULL CALL FOR ENTRIES, PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE

To See: A Textile-ish Show Round-up

Thanks to Tali Weinberg, one of our talented Resident Artists, for compiling a list of “must see” shows in and around the NYC area (plus a few more we want to see):

Master of the Blue Jeans, Didier Aaron Gallery, through February 4

Charles LeDray: workworkworkworkwork, Whitney Museum, through February 13

Convergence, Lumenhouse, through February 15

Balenciaga: Spanish Master, Queen Sofia Spanish Institute, through February 19

Kashmir Shawls at the Bruce Museum, through Feb 27th (Greenwich, CT)

Colors of the Oasis: Central Asian Ikats, Textile Museum, Washington DC, through March 13th (quick road trip anyone?)

AKWAABA: Weaving Unity Between Bonwire and Staten Island, Sung Harbor Cultural Center, Staten Island, through April 3rd

Art/Memory/Place: Commemorating the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, Grey Gallery at New York University, through July 9 (closed March 27-April 11)

Knoll Textiles 1945-2010, Bard Graduate Center, May 18-July 31

Objects of Exchange: Social and Material Transformations on the Late 19th Century Northwest Coast, Bard Graduate Center, through April 17

Sergej Jensen, PS1, through May 2

The Global Africa Project, Museum of Art and Design, through May 15

Color Moves: Art and Fashion by Sonia Delaunay, Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, March 18-June 5

Rugs and Ritual in Tibetan Buddhism, Metropolitan Museum of Art, through June 26

A Stitch in Jewish Time: Provocative Textiles, Hebrew Union College Galleries, through June 30th

Have other recommendations? Let us know!

Exploring the Psyche: Missing/Missed

Join us and curator Scott Henstrand tonight for an Artist Talk on the current exhibition missing/Missed.

Textile Arts Center, 505 Carroll Street (btwn 3rd + 4th ave), January 24, 7PM

The following artists will be sharing about their work:

Regina Agu

Audrey Anastasi

Julia Elsas

Pat Hickman

Sara Jones

Mary Lippin

Jill Magi

John Paul Morabito

Maria Scarpini

Ed Schexnayder

Leonie Wunderlich.

Visit the missing/Missed website for more information on each artist!

Guest Blog: Lauren Palmor on The Combat Paper Project

A new workshop at the Vietnam Era Museum and Educational Center in New Jersey is helping veterans reconsider their experiences by reworking the camouflage fabrics they wore in battle. The Combat Paper Project, organized by Iraq War veteran Drew  Cameron and Drew Matott, and brings together war veterans, activists and artists. The workshop teaches veterans how to transform military uniforms into fiber papers which can then be used for creative expression.

The former soldiers are instructed to remove buttons, patches, and ephemera from their uniforms. Then, the clothes are cut into small pieces, mixed with water, and beat into a pulp. The pulp is then transformed into a number of materials, and some past veteran projects have included masks, artwork, and chapbooks. Throughout the course of a workshop, veterans use an innovative approach to fiber arts to examine their military experience through a creative lens.

Organizations wishing to bring in the Combat Paper Project can contact the group through its website, http://www.combatpaper.org

Really too easy, too cute

Happy Friday!

Cute way to wrap your presents. Or try these recycled options.

Off to Peru!

1:28AM and Isa and I are patiently waiting for 3AM get on the damn plane.

For 10 whole days we will wander through Lima, Cusco, Ollantaytambo, Titicaca.. (!) We can’t wait and promise to have lots of pictures, stories, and textiles to share when we get back. And lucky us, we will get to meet some conservators and meet the great people at Awamaki.

Until then, enjoy some guest blog posts and fun!

Sneak Peak : Holiday Fair Merchandise

Yesterdays talk about wrapping paper and all our recent holiday party planning has us thinking much more about the upcoming Holiday Craft Fairs.

The popularity of DIY and handmade items has created quite the plethora of fairs to choose from… but we hope you’ll come visit us at the two we are participating in!

BK CRAFT CENTRAL

Deb Klein has taken her successful fair out of the Brooklyn Lyceum and will hold it at Textile Arts Center and Littlefields on December 18 + 19 — perfect timing for the last minute shopper. Littlefields is just a few blocks away, so you get twice the fun and free workshops!

3RD WARD

3rd Ward and BK Based do their magic, once again. This is sure to be bigger and better than last years, and perfect for the early bird shoppers. Highlights include live music, cheap coffee and cocktails. Can’t wait!

Last year we participated in a few fairs, including BK Lyceum and 3rd Ward, doing weaving demos and marketing classes.

THIS year, we’ll be having our own fair and selling some handmade items (all by TAC staff). Here’s a little sneak peak of some of the items we’ll be selling (think woven suspenders and circle scarves, jewelry, belts, and keychains)

Plus, we’ll be showing some work from the Awamaki Labs and our fave rubberband master, Margarita of M2 Jewelry.

(courtesy Awamaki – work in progress)

(courtesy M2 Jewelry)

See you there!

Who doesn’t love a tiger?

Some weekends ago Owyn and I attented to the October New York Handweavers Guild meeting, featuring Adrienne Sloane‘s “Knitting the Political Landscape” lecture, in which she covered “works by artists and activists who are helping to change the landscape of knitting art” as well as her own art work.

Adrienne Sloane – Truth to Power (detail)

(image from www.adriennesloane.com)

Amongst the several exciting knit/crochet artists that Adrienne presented, we came across with the work of Ruth Marshall and her tiger pelts.

Ruth Marshall is an artist in residency at the Museum of Art and Design, in New York and is currently working on her Tiger Pelt Project. In this project, Ruth has been knitting live size tiger pelts, based on the actual tiger pelts collection of the American Museum of Natural History and data from wild tigers being studied by scientists.

Tiger Cub, knitted yarn, 2010

(image from www.madmuseum.org, photo and art by Ruth Marshall)

“Through studying actual pelts that were collected from 1944 onwards to live wild tigers captured by photographs, I hope to trace the history and stories behind these amazing tigers that are facing the threat of extinction today.” (in http://www.madmuseum.org)

Ruth has been working with animals for a while. After graduation she joined the exhibit/graphic & design team of the Wildlife Conservation Society of the Bronx Zoo, and she worked there as an exhibition sculptor for more than 12 years.  This experience gave her the opportunity to study a world class animal collection and to learn about conservation strategies related to endangered species. (www.madmuseum.org)

Some of her previous projects include series of pelts from other cats species, like jaguars and leopards, and a series of 68 knitted coral snake skins. All knitted pelts and skins are a faithful and detailed reproduction of the principal characteristics of the species, like colors, stripes, …

Gold Jaguar, knitted yarn bamboo and string, 2007

(photo by Maja Kihlstedt)

(Artist: Ruth Marshall, Courtesy of Dam,  Stuhltrager Gallery)

Clouded Leopard (from the Small Cat Series),  hand knit wool yarn, wooden frame, twine, 2009
(photo by Maja Kihlstedt)

(Artist: Ruth Marshall, Courtesy of Dam,  Stuhltrager Gallery)

Coral Snake Series, 2006, exhbited at Dam, Struhltrager Gallery, Brooklyn

(photo by Maja Kihlstedt)

(Artist: Ruth Marshall, Courtesy of Dam,  Stuhltrager Gallery)

” My art is related to and bound by a fascination with animals. In essence the work is a synthesis of concepts relating to wildlife conservation and visually interpreting natural animal forms. Exploring the precarious balance of our relationship to nature reacquaints us with an exotic world that we are in danger of losing with all the inherent drama of that loss fueling a search for survival.” (www.ruthmarshall.com)

In a society that keeps acknowledging the use of animal pelts as a Fashion need when the cold days come, these awesome uber-detailed knitted pelts and skins should be a reminder for all of us of the need to preserve these species. And, that real animal pelts are way more beautiful when seen “live and alive”.

Ruth Marshall was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia. She got her  BA in sculpture and printmaking at Phillip Institute of Technology, and in 1995  her M.F.A in sculpture at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Her work has been featured in multiple exhibitions, throughout the USA and internationally, and in several publications.

The Virgin Knitters Opening & Sabrina Gschwandtner

Friday night was the Opening for The Virgin Knitters by Kimberly Hall. We had a great turnout thanks to the wonderful participants, Fire Island Beer drinkers, and Radio Jarocho dancers.

The Virgin Knitters is a beautifully subtle and visually minimal show. And, of course, what attracted us to Kimberly Hall’s proposal was the concept. For an arts education center focused on textiles and craft, this was a fantastic combination of educating the public while forcing the audience to think more about the creative crafting process, or making anything by hand. What do we give of ourselves into these objects, and then what happens when we give them away?

Each scarf hangs from a hook, with a Silent Auction sheet, pen, and close to a full length mirror. We are asked to try them on, read about the creator, and “bid” on our favorites. The winners are chosen by Kimberly as the most deserving of the “luck charm”.

One of the favorites was this tiny doll scarf made by an impatient 4-year-old:

If you didn’t make it for the Opening, the show will be up through December 11. And in the month you can expect plenty of “knitting” posts. Join us for Sabrina Gschwandtner’s lecture on “Knitting Now”, this Thursday November 11, at 7PM. RSVP at rsvp@textileartscenter.com

And for all the intermediate knitters out there who want to get past their “virgin scarf”, there is still room in our Seamless Sweaters class beginning Nov. 17, 6PM.

Contemporary Textile Installations

We hope you got to check out the Cutting Edge: Celebrating Fiber show that recently came down.  It really was a stunning show, that drew in wanderers off the street with the massive and delicate textile installations visible from the street. Textile installation artists are vital to textile’s “Fine Art” status.  For the Textile Arts Center, we are dedicated to this stance on textile arts and it will open the doors for textile artists to become internationally recognized just like Picasso and Monet.

Rowland Ricketts is interested in the science of color and how it affects our sensations when we view art.  Contemporary science tells us that color is a sensation experienced because of the differing wavelengths of light waves. To Rowland this is only part of the story. As an artist, her sensation of color is also informed by that color’s material substance and the process that gives color form for her to reflect upon.

“This takes the form of both functional textiles and textiles intended solely as artwork. I see the two practices as symbiotic equals. My artwork challenges me to better define for myself the substantive meaning of the plants and processes I use. My functional work allows me to apply this vision of color in the context of a socially and environmentally responsible design practice. Still, in both my functional textiles and artwork, my intention is the same: Through simple forms and a straight-forward presentation I strive to present the viewer with a color so rich that they see beyond the dyed material to examine all that lies within a color’s substance.” — Rowland’s Statement

My other favorite textile installation artist is Eva Schjolberg.  She has a background in textile projects with regard to space, body and clothing. In recent years she has moved in the direction of textile sculptures and installations. In this exhibition, she shows three-dimensional columns of folded fabric. The starting point for geometry shapes are based on squares. Work The basic structure consists of strips of textile ribbons that are folded in a zigzag pattern. In the distance, the precise fold the edges smoothed out and seemingly melt together into a rhythmic spiral pattern around an axis. The installation items will be experienced as parts of circles.

You probably can tell by now that I favor minimalist installations.  If you have any other textile installations you favor please email me at blog@textileartscenter.com.  I want to encompass the entire range of textile arts.

If you’ve got installation art you want to share, consider submitting to our Call for Entries for our Jan/Feb Gallery show: Missing/Missed, curated by Scott Henstrand.