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Indepth Arts News:
"Wisconsin Handweavers: A New Journey in Weaving"
2001-11-04 until 2001-11-25
Charles Allis Art Museum
Milwaukee, ,
USA United States of America
Charles Allis Art Museum presents the 51st
annual juried exhibition A New Journey in Weaving by Wisconsin Handweavers,
Inc. Handwovens explode with colorful and Out of This World Fibers,
embellishments, and hand-dyed materials. Award-winning weavings, fashions
and decorative items fill the galleries
It's a perfect time to prepare for cold winter days and Holiday shopping at
the Original Handwovens Sale beginning Thursday, November 1 from 1 to 7 p.m.
with a myriad of handwovens offered in The Margaret Rahill Great Hall.
Featured are traditional and innovative patterns including: scarves, hats
and other wearables; tapestries, wall hangings, baskets, Christmas
ornaments, table and kitchen linens, rugs, and children's items. The sale
continues through Friday, Saturday and Sunday, November 2-4 from 1 to 5 p.m.
Sale admission is free; visitors may view the mansion and exhibition with
museum admission.
The Annual Juried Exhibition includes works judged in thirteen categories:
Interiors (pillows, window treatments, upholstery, lampshades), Household
(linens, blankets), Rugs, Wall Tapestry (flat hangings and transparencies),
Beginning Weaver (new weavers in the past year), Complex (five or more
harness technique), Garments (coats, jackets, dresses that are
hand woven, loom shaped or tailored), Accessories (scarves, mittens, shawls,
purses, hats), Beaded Accessories (necklaces, bracelets, wearables),
Dimensional (baskets), Yardage (fabric and patterns with garment
description), Et Cetera, and The Guild Show Challenge: Out of This World
Fibers. Featured Weaver of the Year, Fabric Exchange Garments, and a
Children‚s Exhibit will also be featured.
Wisconsin Handweavers, Inc. has honored Elisabeth Beinert as featured Weaver
of the Year. Bienert, a 77 year-old Madison resident weaving since the
1970s, was first instructed by Nancy Guay. Her work includes table linens,
Navajo rugs, traditional coverlets, and fabric for home furnishings and
clothing. Her devotion is exhibited in the meticulous and loving placement
of each thread, both the source of superb craftsmanship and a treasure to
the weaving community. Elisabeth emits radiance as she speaks of her
weaving, saying, I love weaving and a day without it is a wasted day for
me. During a 9-year stay in Milwaukee, she joined Wisconsin Handweavers,
Inc. and found active weavers who inspired her to weave more seriously.
In May 2000, nine members of Wisconsin Handweavers, Inc. (WHI) began weaving
over 60 yards of fabric for the first WHI Fabric Exchange where the group
selected the Crackle weave structure. Each weaver used two selected
colors of rayon fiber to weave 5 square yards of fabric, enough to exchange
one-half yard of finished fabric with each participant. Swatches of the
nine fabrics were displayed on a storyboard at the November 2000 WHI Exhibit
at Charles Allis Art Museum. Now completed for the 2001 exhibit, each
unique Fabric Exchange Garment incorporates the same nine fabrics and are
truly individual works of art.
Over 400 statewide members in the Wisconsin Handweavers Guild reflect
centuries of worldwide techniques, from loom to tapestry to bead weaving.
Members are active in area guilds, and many teach at the Sievers School of
Art on Washington Island in Door County. While hand weaving is a
prehistoric art, technology has woven itself into the ancient craft through
computerized looms that allow artists to weave on the computer, change color
or design, and print computerized patterns.
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