Returning to the Folk Art Center’s main gallery, Tapestry Weavers South is now exhibiting more than fifty handcrafted fiber pieces to the public.
The show features twenty-seven weavers, three of which are members of the Southern Highland Craft Guild – Tommye Scanlin, Pat Williams and Sandy Adair. Since 2007, the Guild has fostered a close relationship with the organization in support of their mission to cultivate the crafts and makers of the Southern Highlands. This is the third show with Tapestry Weavers South (TWS).
A southeastern organization founded in 1996 by eighteen weavers, TWS encourages and promotes tapestry among its members, and educates the public about tapestry as an art form. The membership covers a diverse design aesthetic with both abstract and figurative textiles.
Tapestry weaving itself is one of the oldest forms of woven textiles and the principal way of creating a picture through weaving. This differs from the traditional form of weaving that is a weft-faced textile. The natural, strong warp is completely covered by the colored yarn of the weft.
Tapestries of old were created by several weavers working together on the same tapestry, with a separate artist creating the design. Contemporary tapestries, like ones seen in this exhibition, are created entirely by the same person, requiring several skills to accomplish and just as time consuming. These include drawing/computer graphics for designing, to the color skills and choice of yarns, and finally to the technical weaving to create the actual tapestry.
Tapestry Weavers South displays the following fiber makers and their work in the Folk Art Center exhibition: Sandy Adair, Jean Clark, Nancy Duggar, Michelle Elliot, Nancy Garretson, Barbara Gilmore, Joan Griffin, Gail Griffith, Louise Halsey, Betty Hilton Nash, Connie Lippert, Mary Jane Lord, Lynne Mayne, Sidsel Moreb, Laurie O’Neill, April Carter Price, Christina Rasmussen, Jennifer Sargent, Dorina Scalia, Tommye Scanlin, Rosemary Smith, Rebecca Stevens, Sarah Thomsen, Linda Weghorst, Holly Wilkes, and Pat Williams.
Admission to the Folk Art Center is free. The Folk Art Center is located at Milepost 382 on the Blue Ridge Parkway in east Asheville. Headquarters to the Southern Highland Craft Guild, the Center also houses three galleries, a library, a craft shop and a Blue Ridge Parkway information desk and bookstore.
Visit www.southernhighlandguild.org/folk-art-center/ for additional information.
(Image: Handcrafted fiber piece of abstract trees by Joan Griffin.)