The Handweaver’s Guild of America is coming to Long Beach for Convergence 2012, which runs from Sunday, July 15th through Saturday, July 21st. The annual event, which started in 1972, is being held at the Long Beach Convention Center, and is open to the public.
The HGA has collaborated with a number of local artists, institutions, and galleries to showcase regional talent. For example, Rancho Los Alamitos is presenting Anne Abendroth’s Color & Costumes: An Exhibition of Non-Wearable Art. The exhibition, which runs through the 22nd, will also feature textiles from the Rancho’s permanent collection.
The American Tapestry Alliance is presenting Pacific Portals, the 9th unjuried international small format tapestry exhibit, at the Main Branch of the Long Beach Public Library. The show features more than 150 artists, representing 12 countries.
The Long Beach Museum of Art is hosting Small Expressions 2012, an exhibit sponsored annually by the the HGA, and juried by Carol Shaw-Sutton, an internationally known fiber artists who teaches at CSULB. The show will be up through August 12th.
Sandra Bowles, Executive Direct of the HGA, said that “by closely working with the Long Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Long Beach Museum of Art we found the diverse and vital community we were looking for – one in which we could involve and work with to highlight the local artists and exhibits as well as feature international artists. The result is a successful collaboration for both the Long Beach arts community and HGA.”
With support from the Downtown Long Beach Associates, Vayden Roi Galleries is presenting three shows on Pine Avenue. At Exhibit [A], Susan McGehee is presenting Metal Strands, a solo show featuring her works of woven metal. At the Society Gallery, the Seaside Tapestry Group is presenting Once Upon A Time, a collection of works that, together, tell the story, written by Nicki Bair, of Rita’s Excellent Adventure. At the Bungalow Gallery, Designing Weavers is presenting World of Fiber, showcasing excellence in a variety of media and techniques.
All three shows will be open from Friday through Monday from 6 to 9 PM. The opening reception for Metal Strands is this Friday, and next Friday the gallery will be hosting Break The Mold, a popular jazz series. The artists performing at Break The Mold are Antropic Ensemble and Bubbeleh. They both mix workld music, klezmer, and jazz.
The other two shows will have their official opening receptions on the 20th. At the Bungalow Gallery, Shelley RuggThorp will be the ring master of the Circus of Fiber Arts, collaborating with Sandra Carter, Marco Schindlemann, Michael Raco-Rands, Eric Strauss, Tom Walker, and Erin Hong. The 20th is also the North Pine Third Friday Twilight Walk.
Nicki Bair, whose work will be featured in all of the group exhibitions, took some time to speak about the show at Society.
“It is a story about a young sand crab named Rita that loves purple plankton,” Nicki said. “One day she decides to ride a current in search of the best plankton in Santa Monica Bay and has an adventure which we tell in both words and weft in this exhibit. The words are iambic pentameter and the verse is illustrated with 20 tapestries. This is the first time it will be exhibited.
“I wrote the story and convinced five other tapestry artists to help me illustrate it in tapestry; each with their own style and interpretations of the story. All six of us are part of the Seaside Weavers tapestry group, which is an eclectic group of weavers who live on the Westside of LA. The group has been involved in tapestry since the 80’s.
“I started weaving in 2004,” Nicki explained, “and love to combine my creative writing with my art. This exhibit is one example. In Camarillo, there is a Designing Weavers exhibit in July where I have what I call Tapestry Poems…poems that I wrote and then wove in tapestry.”
I asked Nicki about the collaborative process.
“What we did was decide upon a common parameters in order for the tapestries to seem unified,” she said. “For example, the size was specified, and we agreed to have a woven frame around each piece. Otherwise, we were free to do whatever we wanted. When people see the exhibit, they should make sure to see how creative some of the frames are.
“The artists are Margie Fine, Carollee Howes, Merna Strauch, Judi Freed, Karen Leckart and me,” Nicki said. “Seaside has a long history of collaborative projects, as well as a reputation for a sense of humor in their creations. I guess the two go together!”
I asked her how she became involved in tapestry.
“My Mother was a tapestry artist,” Nicki said. “When I was a kid, there was a loom in our kitchen where most families would have had a breakfast table. I was artistic as a kid, but I didn’t start weaving until my mother passed away and I got all her looms, yarns, books, and boxes and boxes of stuff.
“It was pretty funny. I had three looms but no idea how to warp them. At the time I was working in the financial services industry and was a bit bored. My dad had always said, ‘Nicki if you are bored, go find something else to do,’ so I actually decided to go be an artist. I took my first weaving class, loved it and found great inspiration from my mother’s art, which hangs on my walls, and the memories of her weaving when I was a kid.
“I also used to write stories and poems when I was a kid,” Nicki recalled, “but had stopped when I was working in the corporate world. I was happy to see my ability to write hadn’t disappeared while working, and now I like to say I ‘weave with words and weft.’
“This is a good exhibit for both adults and kids; [it has] something for everyone. It has both an interesting story, colorful tapestries, and [shows] how six different artists can create 20 tapestries which come together to tell the story. It’s fun to try to figure out which artist did which tapestries.”
I asked Nicki what her involvement with HGA mean to her, and the group.
“HGA is an organization firmly backing and supporting weaving. Weaving does not have high visibility in the art world, nor with the public and, through its conferences and exhibits, HGA helps educate everyone about weaving and fiber art.
“I went to my first Convergence in Denver,” Nicki said, “and was so overwhelmed by the fiber art there that I immediately went back and raised ‘my game,’ so to speak; improving my technique and challenging myself to create better work. One of my first opportunities to exhibit was at the Convergence in Grand Rapids, 6 years ago. I wove a fifteen foot piece of yardage composed of 60 different beetle designs. I was quite excited to receive an honorable mention for the piece. I have been exhibiting ever since.”
I asked Nicki about her involvement with Designing Weavers.
“Designing Weavers is having two exhibits in July. One is at the Bungalow Gallery. It is called World of Fiber, and is curated by Julie Kornblum. It includes a wide variety of different fiber techniques: Tapestry, basketry, clothing, surface design, weaving, etc. Designing Weavers was established in 1975 and is a nationally recognized, juried, fiber guild known for its diverse range of work. It’s members are from Southern California; from San Diego up to Atascadero. We meet in Los Angeles.
“If you go to DesigningWeavers.com, you will see that most of the members are professional artists. You will see many of them in the various exhibits around here. Julie Kornblum and I both have pieces in the Small Expressions exhibit at the Long Beach Museum of Art.
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To learn about handweaving, or to explore Convergence 2012, visit WeaveSpinDye.org.
To learn more about Nicki, visit nickibair.com.
Keep up to date on exhibitions and events at Vayden Roi Galleries.