Every Fiber of Our Being
After a tumultuous year, Sebastopol Center for the Arts stages one of its signature exhibitions, International Fiber Arts XI
The biennial International Fiber Arts show at Sebastopol Center for the Arts is the kind of exhibition that makes Sebastopol feel, not like a small town, but like part of the wider cultural world. Cool, blithe and sophisticated, it always offers an array of pieces to surprise, amuse, move, and sometimes mystify (but, hey, it’s Art). And this year is no different.
The show opens officially at SebARTS on Saturday, July 29, with an opening reception on from 1 to 3 pm. The exhibition runs from July 29 to September 10.
Fiber Arts coordinators Kathryn Davy and Joy Stocksdale have been working on this exhibition for a year. And what a year! The art center went through some major changes—including three executive directors and a financial crisis—as well as an almost total staff turnover. In many ways, it has been a rough year, but Davy and Stocksdale gracefully surfed the changes in personnel, keeping their eye on the prize—which was to produce a spectacular Fiber Arts exhibition, worthy of those that had gone before.
Another big change—and speaking of those that have gone before— is that longtime Fiber Arts coordinator Bill Yoes, one of the founders of the exhibition with Joy Stocksdale, died earlier this spring.
“We knew he was ailing,” Davy said. “So I approached Joy and I said, ‘I really, really want to do this with you.’ Because I had been very involved as a volunteer before, but I really wanted to help coordinate. I didn't want the show to suffer, so I just stepped in. We make a great team.”
The jurors of the show, who will attend the reception, are well-known fiber artists Judith Content and Ann Johnston. Content and Johnston sifted through 470 entries. Sixty-seven pieces made the final cut.
A lot of people think of “fiber arts” as “fabric arts,” and expect either clothing or quilting, but fabric arts is just a subset of fiber arts, as this show attests.
“We have a lot of 3-D stuff this year, and a few pieces of wearable art,” Davy said, “but there’s also basketry and weaving in flax and paper. One of the pieces is a chain link piece, and another piece is monofilament. We get all kinds of cool entries.”
The jurors (and the coordinators) both have pieces in the show. Johnston, who lives in Oregon, will also do a large installation at the front of the art center on Saturday, the day of the reception.
Davy gave a shout-out to SebARTS’ new Director Serafina Palandech, Interim Associate Director Steve Markus, and staff member Shaina Williams for their support of the exhibition.
When the Times dropped by the art center as the show was being hung on Thursday afternoon, Markus was balanced on a step ladder hanging a giant metallic art piece. But most of the people hanging the work, affixing nameplates to the wall, and arranging the lighting were volunteers. And every year, they do a superb job.
You’re invited…
Sebastopol Center for the Arts invites you to come to the opening reception for the Fiber Arts Exhibition this Saturday, July 29, from 1 to 3 pm. If you don’t feel like braving the crowds, you can drop by the center for a sneak peek on Friday, July 28, from 10 to 4 pm. The exhibition will be open during regular gallery hours (Thursday though Sunday, 10 am to 4 pm) until September 10. Sebastopol Center for the Arts is located at 282 S. High St., Sebastopol.
Looks like a good show!