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A Beautiful Modern Exhibition Space
Wolfe Gallery at MVCDS
Fiberforum 2024: Celebrating 50 Years of Creativity
Suan Krueger (Bits and Pieces)
Deborah Bewley (Bits and Pieces)
Kathy Pereira de Almeida (Bits and Pieces)
Judy Kahle (Red Square)
Ruth Carpenter (Red Square)
Sharon Baker (Red Square)
Gerry Brock (12x12)
Frances Parry (12x12)
Susan Krueger (12x12)
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Exhibition: March 13-April 26
The Wolfe Gallery is excited to present "Fiberforum 2024: Celebrating 50 Years of Creativity" from March 13-April 26. The show features the work of Fiberforum members across three collaborative projects. In addition to collaborative group projects, it features individual works from Fiberforum members. The show's reception is March 13 from 5:30-7 p.m.
Here is a description of each project:
Red Square: Each Fiberforum member involved with this collaborative project created a piece of art that includes at least one red square. Each piece is 8”x8”.
Bits & Pieces from My Friends: Each Fiberforum member began this project with an identical collection of materials made up from their fellow members’ contributions. The goal was to create a work of art using at least one-third of the items.
12x12 Revisited: The members decided to look back to our very first collaborative project. Each person involved with this project created the beginnings of a piece of art that measured 12" x 12". Each participant then worked on everyone else's piece, interpreting and expanding it. Final works reflect the collaborative efforts of 12 artists. Only 9 pieces are shown.
Fiberforum is a 50-year-old northwest Ohio art group whose members use a wide variety of fiber media and techniques to create individual works as well as collaborative projects. The group encourages the appreciation of traditional techniques and ways in which these techniques can be expanded. Its members use a variety of media and techniques such as quilting, surface design, felting, papermaking, cold wax, and mixed media.
Members often work on collaborations, where each artist adds to or modifies each other’s work in a communal manner or otherwise produces art as a group. More examples of their projects are on its website.
Fiberforum was founded in 1974 by Mary Mabry, Pat Brown, and Julie Harrison. Their goal was to create a group of like minded artists to share information and ideas as well as to encourage the use of fiber media as an art form in addition to its more traditional uses. Although it was often disparaged as "women's work,” fiber as an art medium at this time was exploding onto the art scene worldwide, becoming a recognized form of art.
The three artists connected through Mary who was teaching at Bowling Green State University. Pat was Mary’s independent study graduate student. Julie was teaching art in the Toledo Public Schools and Mary had placed student teachers in Julie’s classroom. From these three women Fiberforum began to grow, with other fiber artists being invited to join the group.
Fiberforum hosted workshops that were open to the public. A couple of the early workshops included one on felting and another on silkscreening on fabric. In 1983, Fiberforum received a grant from the Ohio Arts Council to experiment with a computerized loom, which was new technology at the time. This two-month experiment ended with a demonstration open to the public. They displayed their weaving samples and written results in Dallas, TX, at the Handweavers Guild of America’s convention, "Convergence," in 1984.
Fiberforum has had group shows throughout Ohio. The purpose of these activities has been to show people that fiber is a recognized art form and an exciting art medium. Individual and collaborative works help members grow as artists. Over the years, members have come and gone, but the core purpose of the group has remained the same: to explore and promote fiber as an art form.
Constructed in 1991, the Wolfe Gallery was designed by world-class architect Hugh Newell Jacobsen and displays the work of Maumee Valley students and professional artists. It is a beautiful, well-lit, open space that showcases 2-D and 3-D artwork to full advantage.
For information on displaying your artwork in the Maumee Valley Country Day School Wolfe Gallery, contact Kristin Kowalski at kkowalski@wolaipei.com.
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