Yeiser Art Center

Yeiser's Yearly Fiber Art Show

http://fantasticfibers.theyeiser.org

FANTASTIC FIBERS is an international competitive exhibition that seeks to showcase a wide range of outstanding works related to the fiber medium. In four years Fantastic Fibers has grown to a truly international competition/exhibition.

Fantastic Fibers 2012 is hosted by the Yeiser Art Center, Paducah’s Gateway to the Arts. Located in downtown Paducah, the Yeiser Art Center is a non-profit visual arts organization celebrating more than fifty years of serving the community through exhibitions and education throughout the Tri-State Region.

Last year’s Fantastic Fibers 2011 had over 400 entries submitted by 187 fiber artists from Canada, France, Japan, and Qatar, and from 23 US states. 58 works by 47 fiber artists were chosen for the exhibit.

Paducah is the home of the National Quilt Museum. The American Quilter’s Society Annual Show and Contest will be held in Paducah from April 25 to 28, 2012.
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The competition/exhibition is open to all professional artists 18 years and/or over working in the field of fiber art. Contemporary and innovative works created with fiber as the primary medium are welcome. All work submitted must be original, completed in the last three years and not previously exhibited in a Fantastic Fibers exhibition. There are no size restrictions. A non-refundable entry fee $10 is required for each entry submitted for consideration with a maximum of five entries per artist. Entries must be submitted online by February 4, 2012.

Juror Luanne Rimel is an artist, curator, and currently the Director of Education Programs at Craft Alliance Art Center in St. Louis, Missouri. She holds an MFA in Fibers from Southern Illinois University and has taught numerous workshops and classes around the country. Rimel will award a minimum of $1,750 in cash prizes for this year’s exhibition.

Location:  Paducah, Kentucky, USA
Language spoken:  English

Fantastic Fiber Exhibit at the Yeiser Art Center in 2011

Tags:  Call for entries, exhibitions, art quilt, mixed media, contest, felt, fiber, workshops, 3-d, Paducah

Las Rancheritas

 

http://www.charlottebell.com/rugs/

Las Rancheritas is a rug hooking cooperative in a rural village high in the mountains of central Mexico.  Their folk art designs are of the life around them: chickens, pigs, mountains, cactus, farming and whatever their imagination creates. The wool used to make their rugs is donated from rug hooking groups throughout the USA and Canada. Sales from the rugs are contributing to a higher standard of living in this subsistence farming community.

Las Rancheritas, a rug-hooking cooperative from Central Mexico.

Mission:  To provide funds to a financially disadvantaged community and promote self esteem through development of a craft.



Location:  Agustin Gonzales, Guanajuato, Mexico
Online shop:  Las Rancheritas
Blog:  http://lasrancheritas.posterous.com/
Memberships: Association of Traditional Hooking Artists
Languages spoken:  English, Spanish 

Hooked Rug by Las Rancheritas
"The Mending is Very Heavy"

Tags:  hooked rugs, primitive hooked rugs, rural Mexican craft cooperative, folk art, economic development, fair trade, recycled, eco

Southeast Fiber Arts Alliance

 

http://www.fiberartsalliance.org

"In Living Color" class by Rebecca Ewing

The Southeast Fiber Arts Alliance, a non-profit, provides seminars, classes, and workshops in a wide variety of fiber art disciplines.

In July 2011, when we open our fiber arts center, we will also host exhibitions, provide low-cost studio space, and provide low-cost rental space for meetings, classes, workshops, and events.  We are open to everyone with an interest in fiber and we aim to engage, educate and inspire!

Membership Info 

Workshops and Classes

Mission:  We celebrate, support, promote and perpetuate all fiber art forms and connect the fiber arts community.  We do this by addressing the following goals:

• Connect the fiber arts community; 
• Promote and support fiber artists, teachers, organizations, and businesses;
• Support the display and appreciation of fiber arts and artists;
• Provide fiber art education;
• Preserve fiber art skills and traditions; and
• Develop a purpose-built fiber arts center. 

Location:  Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Blog:  fiberartsalliance 
Social Media:  Twitter, Crowdrise 

Memberships:   

   Atlanta Knitting Guild 

   Chattahoochee Handweavers Guild 

Languages spoken:  English 

Schematic of Proposed Space for the Southeast Fiber Arts Alliance

SEFAA Promo Video from SEFiberArtsAlliance on Vimeo.

Tags:  textiles, artists, nonprofit, weaving, knitting, sewing, quilting, needlework, spinning, yarn, organization, classes, workshops  

Threads of Peru

www.threadsofperu.com

Ariana Svenson with a Quechua Weaver

Threads of Peru is a not-for-profit, social enterprise registered in Cusco, Peru. The founding members, Fely Callanaupa Gonzales, Ariana Svenson, Angie Hodder and Adam Collins represent the countries of Peru, Australia, and Canada respectively.

We sell fairly traded, authentic, traditional Andean Textiles. These hand-woven fabrics are made using ancient traditional methods practiced by the indigenous Quechua people of the Peruvian Andes.

Traditional Andean weaving in Peru involves the shearing of organic fiber from herds of free range alpaca and sheep; the washing and dyeing of the fiber using natural dyes (from insects, plants, and minerals of the region) and local plant-based soaps; hand-spinning of the fiber into thread using the drop spindle; and the weaving of cloth using the ancient back-strap and four post looms. Woven items feature superb iconography specific to the mountain communities in the Sacred Valley region of Peru.

Threads of Peru funds and conducts weaving workshops in three rural Andean communities, which develop a better understanding of production for an international market, and broaden the use of traditional methods. We also administer a nutrition program for the Reach Out Children's Fund, as part of our mandate is to collaborate with other organizations to improve the effectiveness of development efforts in the region.

Threads of Peru also offers a 14 day tour of Peru, which offers a panoramic view of the past, present and future of traditional Andean textiles. From the museums of Lima and the islands of Lake Titicaca, to the indigenous communities of the Sacred Valley and the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu, this textile-focused tour reveals how important woven threads are to the fabric of Peruvian culture.  Click for Tour Info.

Peru, its people and their traditions are a vast and beautiful part of our world. They are connected to us - as we all are connected - through the common threads of fabric and fibre art. None of us can know it all, and we are happy to be included in this community; to learn and share in its collective strength.

Mission:  Threads of Peru supports Quechua weavers of Peru and their ancient textile traditions. By connecting weavers to an international market for their craft, we help to preserve their ancient culture and provide communities with important economic opportunity.

Threads of Peru offers high quality clothing, accessories and home decor which fit contemporary lives and fashions. Our products are created using traditional methods of hand production, which are environmentally sustainable, and serve to preserve the rich cultural heritage of the descendants of the Inca.


Location:  Peru
Online shops:  Threads of Peru on eBay
Blog: Threads of Peru
Other Social Media:  Twitter, Squidoo
Languages spoken:  English, Spanish

Threads of Peru

Authentic Andean Textiles from Threads of Peru - Angie Hodder on Vimeo.

Tags:  Peruvian textiles, alpaca scarf, wool belt, table runner, shawl, woven handbag, native clothes, indigenous decor, andean art, handicrafts Peru 

MarketPlace: Handwork of India

www.marketplaceindia.com

MarketPlace: Handwork of India is a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing economic opportunities for women artisans in India, and empowering them to bring about changes in their lives, the lives of their families, and their communities.

Our clothes are rooted in a long tradition of artisan work, rather than based on fleeting trends. Reflecting classic styling, our designs are fresh and versatile.

“Leadership By Design” sums up our strategy. Planning and controlling every aspect of production has given women basis skills that they use in planning other aspects of their lives and taking initiatives in community actions, their children’s schools, and changing relationships between them and their husbands and children, especially their daughters.

Women are involved in design workshops, executing plans for production, the entire quality control, and managing the transfer of skills. MarketPlace is currently working with 14 cooperatives, representing over 480 artisans, most of who are women. The clothing and textile products made by these groups are marketed in the U.S. through an attractive catalog, website and a number of specialty and clothing stores. Sales in the U.S. in 2008 was almost $1 million.

Location: Evanston, Illinois, USA
Online shop: marketplaceindia
Blog: marketplacehandworkofindia
Memberships: MarketPlace is well recognized in the Fair Trade Movement and was one of the founding members of the Fair Trade Federation and is a member of the World Fair Trade Organization.
Social Media: Twitter, YouTube
Languages spoken: English

Reversible jackets by MarketPlace: Handwork of India

Tags: fair trade, veggie dyes, embroidered clothing, cotton clothing, Indian clothing, economic development, Mumbai, SHARE

Fiberarts Connection - Anne Copeland

"Winter Migration" by Barbara Williamson, 

Physically challenged fiber artist.  

www.fiberartsconnection.blogspot.com

We are a nonprofit 501(c)(3) founded originally in 2003 by Anne Copeland. We seek to make good networking connections and locate more resources for physically/developmentally challenged fiber artists. We also are seeking to provide opportunities for children to have a safe and wonderful, inexpensive  means to express their creativity through some of our current and ongoing venues. We have long wanted to provide this opportunity, so this year is our first challenge geared to include children. You can find the challenge on our blog site under Calls for Entry.

We have events where pieces are sold to raise money for worthwhile causes and to assist the physically/developmentally challenged artists.  We also do Smilebox presentations online, and we have done online show catalogs that can be printed out to include in a portfolio or to just have to remember the events the fiber artists enter.

Mission: Our mission is to assist physically/developmentally challenged and emerging  fiberartists who wish to be professional with getting good exposure for their work and teaching them professional development. Although the nonprofit is located in Southern California, we serve physically challenged fiber artists in the United States and abroad.

Founder, Anne Copeland, is an AQS certified appraiser who specializes in art quilts, wearables, art dolls and other textile items.  She also appraises regular antique and traditional quilts, but specializes in the more contemporary items.  Anne lectures and teaches some classes, especially her quilt restoration class, which is quite popular.

Location: Lomita, California, USA
Blogs: ohmimola, fiberartsconnection
Memberships:

   SAQA
   The Alliance for American Quilts
   Cut-Loose Quilters
Languages spoken: English

Barbara Williamson, Secretary, Fiberarts Connection

Tags: Nonprofit, physically challenged fiber artists, developmentally challenged fiber artists, venues for physically challenged fiber artists, challenges for physically challenged fiber artists, challenges welcoming participation of children, opportunities for physically challenged fiber artists, resources for physically challenged fiber artists