May 21, 2009 in Features

On the Wall: Weavers converge on Spokane

By The Spokesman-Review
 
Tags:artson the wallweaving
Image courtesy of Frank Ross photo

“Sacred Journey: Matriarch” by Anita Luvera Mayer, whose hand-woven garments will be on exhibit at Tinman Gallery. Image courtesy of Frank Ross
(Full-size photo)

If you go

“Weaving Waves of Color,” Association of Northwest Weavers’ Guilds 2009 conference

What: Juried show, open show, vendor hall, displays, demonstrations, seminars, workshops and exhibits focusing on fiber arts. Also tour of local galleries with weaving-related exhibits (see page C5 for details).

When: May 29-30, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and 6-9 p.m.; May 31, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.; post-conference workshops, June 1-3.

Where: Gonzaga University, Martin Centre, 1111 N. Cincinnati St.

Cost: Admission and parking are free; various fees for seminars and workshops

Contact: www.anwg2009.org

Spokane Gallery Tour

A tour of eight local exhibits by outstanding fiber artists from various Northwest Weavers’ Guilds will be held next Thursday from 4 to 9 p.m. as part of the Association of Northwest Weavers’ Guilds 2009 conference. All ANWG conference buses are sold out, but participants can take a self-guided tour. Seven of the exhibits already are up for viewing during regular gallery hours.

Exhibits include:

•Artisans’ Wares Gallery, River Park Square, 808 W. Main Ave., second floor: Theshini Naicker, a Rossland, B.C., fiber artist born in South Africa, presents soft, lightweight, hand-dyed silk and merino wool scarves, wearables, seamless construction hand-felted jackets, abstract fiber pieces and wall hangings. (Through June 3)

•ArtStyle Northwest, 901 W. Garland Ave.: Long-time Spokane Handweaver’s Guild members Dian Zahner and Betty Lukins present contemporary fiber art pieces. (Through May)

•Avenue West Gallery, 122 S. Monroe St.: “The Ladies,” a 14-piece series of 33-inch-square, Navajo-style tapestries by Audrey Moore of Sandy, Ore., founder of the Damascus Fiber Arts School. Utilizing brilliantly colored hand-dyed wool yarns and commercial or shell buttons – motifs taken from Pacific Northwest native coastal button blankets - each piece depicts a woman’s dress or article of clothing, conveying energy and movement. (Through May)

•Chase Gallery, Spokane City Hall, 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd., lower level: “Weaving Invitational,” works by nationally recognized weaving artists Mary Burks, Coupeville, Wash.; Lia Cook, Berkeley, Calif.; James Koehler, Santa Fe, N.M.; Rebecca Laurence, Spokane; Barbara Setsu-Pickett, curricular coordinator for the Fiber Arts Area at the University of Oregon; and Sarah Swett, Moscow, Idaho. (Through July 3)

•Lorinda Knight Gallery, 523 W. Sprague Ave.: Gail Grinnell, “Body of Work.” The Seattle artist explores fabric and garment construction tied to themes of anatomy and the “lightly tethered spirit.” (Through May 30)

•Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. (closes at 5 p.m.): “Living Legacy: An American Indian Collection,” including works from the Manning Collection’s Columbia Plateau Native weavings and cultural objects (through June 2010); and Marie Watt: “Forget-me-not,” weaving themes of war heroes, remembrance, relations, storytelling, heirlooms and the notion of things. (Through October)

•Pottery Place Plus, 203 N. Washington St.: Gay Jensen, “Fringe Elements,” a celebration of fringe as a design element in woven art. Wall tapestries with surface design, painting, beads and embellishments by this award-winning Seattle artist who “sings to (her) own song.” (Through May 30)

•Tinman Gallery, 811 W. Garland Ave.: “Creative Clothing – One Woman’s Journey,” hand-woven garments by Anita Luvera Mayer of Anacortes, Wash., constructed from simple shapes with minimal cutting, and hand-done joins, finishes and embellishments. Some of the pieces may be tried on. (May 28-June 21; artist reception May 29, 5-9 p.m.)

Next week, the biannual Association of Northwest Weavers’ Guilds conference will wash over the River City, sending a sea of professional fiber artists, novices, students and enthusiasts from six Northwestern states and four Canadian provinces our way.

More than 430 participants have enrolled in the “Weaving Waves of Color” conference at Gonzaga University, which features a tapestry of seminars and workshops led by the field’s top fiber artists and artisans, including weaving, spinning and felting professionals.

A juried show, open exhibit and vendor hall will be free and open to the public throughout the conference weekend at GU’s Martin Centre.

Awards of excellence will be presented in categories including woven wearables, home interiors, decorative weaving (rugs, hangings, tapestry) and innovative interlacements in the juried show.

The open show, called “Wild Waves of Color,” will be judged by all attendees. Winners will be given People’s Choice awards.

On May 29, a sold-out fashion show aims to re-spin the boxy image of wearable art, ensconcing professional models in the latest trends in artful, fibrous fashions and hand-formed garments. The garments modeled in the show will be exhibited the following day in the Martin Centre’s Bulldog Room.

Spokane last hosted the ANWG conference in 1979 at Whitworth University, when it was still Whitworth College.

New this year is a gallery tour that stitches seven Spokane galleries with contemporary fiber art exhibits and the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture to the conference. It was structured by Spokane artist Dian Zahner, a Spokane Handweaver’s Guild member, painter, Avenue West Gallery cooperative member and former Eastern Washington University weaving instructor.

The conference bus tour sold out early, but self-guided tours are encouraged.

Zahner submitted three large textiles to the ANWG open and juried shows, and is a featured fiber artist at ArtStyle Northwest along with longtime local weaver Betty Lukins, a Spokane Handweavers’ Guild member since 1947.

“Spinners, weavers, fiber artists, basket makers and so on are all in Spokane’s guild,” said Zahner. “As a weaver myself, I used to do the dyeing, but I couldn’t take the time to do the spinning because I was weaving about six hours a day.”

Zahner’s 6-foot-long woolen tapestry, “Northwest Trees,” took nearly 10 weeks to complete.

“It took me about three hours to do two inches,” she said.

Jennifer Zurlini can be reached at jenniferz@spokesman.com or (509) 459-5479.

Recent stories by Jennifer Zurlini
Recent stories in Features
No comments on this story so far. Add yours!

    You must be logged in to post comments.
    Please create a profile or log in here.