The new Fiber Arts exhibit at SebArts will wow you

Fiber can be anything: thread, wire, plastic, tea bags...anything

Jun 20, 2025

The 12th International Fiber Arts exhibit opens this weekend at Sebastopol Center for the Arts. There’s a soft opening on Saturday (for the crowd phobic), and the official opening reception is Sunday, June 22, 3 pm to 5 pm.

The exhibit runs from June 21 to August 3, and if you like art (and even if you don’t—even if you merely like entertainment), you’ve got to come to this fun, lively, surprising show that explores the many facets of what fiber art can be.

“The International Fiber Arts has been at the Center for the Arts every other year for 24 years,” said the exhibit’s coordinator Kathryn Davy. “Because we partner with Surface Design Association and because we put out our call to so many different really big fiber arts groups, we get an amazing response to our call for entry,” Davy said.

This year, they got almost 700 entries, and there are 91 pieces in this packed and varied show.

If you think fiber art means quilts and weaving, think again.

“Yes, there are art quilts and art weaving, but then in addition to that there’s wire, there’s mesh, there’s all kinds of odd fabric, there’s one piece that is woven completely out of zip ties and crochet needles…so it’s really dynamic and very unusual-looking stuff.”

Davy calls herself a “coordinator” rather than a curator because the pieces in the show are chosen by two jurors: Ramekon O'Arwisters, a crochet artist from San Francisco, and international textile writer Jessica Hemmings.

“They’re each asked to choose about 40 or 50 pieces, and then we narrow it down to what we believe will be the right amount for the size of the gallery,” Davy said.

Sometimes the team at SebArts will add a few pieces by local artists, but this time they didn’t need to do that because the jurors did that themselves, even though it was a blind juried selection, meaning the jurors didn’t know the names of the artists or where they were from.

Davy attributes this to the large number of really fine fiber artists working in Northern California, something Sebastopol Center for the Arts director Serafina Palandech affirms.

“In Sonoma County and at Sebastopol Center for the Arts, fiber arts hold a vital place in the creative landscape, celebrating both heritage and innovation in a deeply connected artistic community,” she said. “Fiber as an art form carries deep cultural and ancestral significance, preserving traditions, techniques, and stories passed down through generations, often through the hands of women and marginalized communities. Its importance lies not only in the visible intricacy of woven, stitched, and dyed surfaces, but also in the unseen labor, memory, and identity embedded within each thread.”

International Fiber Arts XII is a ticketed exhibition: $15 per person, $10 per student. It is free to SebArts members. Become a member today. You can also schedule a docent tour for $12 per person for six or more people by contacting rwynne@sebarts.org. Community free entry days: July 13 and July 29.