Convergence 2008 in Tampa Bay
If you haven't done so already, now is the time to join HGA as the Fall issue of SS&D will have all the information and registration forms for this fabulous event and you wouldn't want to miss out.
Membership in HGA includes:
- Convergence: Special member rates to attend HGA's biennial conference where fiber artists from all over the world meet. Convergence 2008 will be held in Tampa Bay, Florida, June 22 - June 28, offering lectures, seminars, workshops, studio classes, art exhibits and an incredible vendor hall.
- Exhibits: Small Expressions and Convergence Exhibits. Special member entry fees for HGA's annual international juried show of small-scale works created using fiber techniques and HGA's Convergence exhibits.
- Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot: Members receive four issues per year of HGA's award-winning, quarterly magazine with articles on design, history, wearable art, exhibits, books, techniques, artist profiles and reports from museums, guilds, and members.
- www.weavespindye.org: Your global connection to HGA information, guilds and fiber artists around the world.
Then go onto the website www.weavespindye.org Convergence 2008 where you can review and print the prospectuses for the juried exhibits then get busy creating your entries:
Convergence Exhibits to Enter
- Dance Of Flamingos - Wearable Art Fashion Show and Exhibit
- River Of Grass - Basketry Exhibit
- Salsa Y Salsa - Multimedia Fiber Arts Exhibit
- Ebb Tide: Yardage
- Small Expressions - HGA's annual Exhibit of Small Scale Works
- The Eye of the Hurricane - Felting and Fusion Exhibit
- The Pearl in the Oyster - Personal Adornment: Accessories Exhibit
- Parrots, Peacocks and Palms - Functional Weaving/Interlacement Exhibit
And, please consider volunteering at Convergence. You'll find an online form on the Convergence 2008 page. This is a great opportunity for FTWG members to show our hospitality and love of our craft. If you have any questions about volunteering, contactl Joan Ahern.
Remember, too, there are grants available (with deadlines of February 1st): Silvio & Eugenia Petrini Grant, Mearle K.Gable II Memorial Grant and the HGA/Interweave Press Teach-It-Forward Grant. For more information please contact:
Handweavers Guild of America, Inc.
Scholarship Committee
1255 Buford Highway, Suite 211
Suwanee, GA 30024
Telephone: (678) 730-0010
Email: hga@weavespindye.org
Don't forget that Spinning and Weaving Week is Oct 1-7, 2007. Let me know what you and/or your guild are planning to celebrate this annual event.
-Pamela Carr, HGA Rep Florida
Introducing the Jurors for Convergence 2008, Tampa Bay
Our Jurors for the 2008 HGA exhibits have all been selected and are excited about their categories! In no particular order they are:
- John Garrett — The River of Grass Basketry Exhibit
- John has been working with the application of textile technologies and imagery to various materials for the past twenty five years. Currently a full time studio artist, he taught for many years at colleges and universities in California, including Scripps College and UCLA. For the past several years he has taught workshops on creativity and experimental basketry. He is widely collected in major museums and prominent galleries.
- John Marshall — Small Expressions
- Working in traditional Japanese dye technique called katazome, John employs natural dyes and a resist paste made from soy and powdered rice. He regularly travels throughout the United States lecturing and presenting workshops on subjects such as traditional Japanese crafts; contemporary interpretations of traditional forms; and ethics and business practices for artists. He is the author of two Japanese textiles books, as well.
- Joan Michaels Paque — Salsa y Salsa, A Multimedia Fiber
- Joan is a multi-media fiber and paper artist who has exhibited and taught internationally throughout Australia, Japan, Europe, Mexico, Canada and the United States. Her artworks are found in many prestigious public and private collections including Smithsonian Institution National Museum Permanent Collection of Fine Art, Washington, DC; Southampton Art Museum, London, England.
- Victoria Rivers — Pearl in the Oyster, A Personal Adornment
- Victoria holds degrees in studio arts, art history, and higher education studies from Murray State University, KY. She has been a Professor in the Design Program in the Department of Environmental Design at the University of California, Davis, since 1980. Her life-long love of fabric has culminated in the publication of a book entitled The Shining Cloth: Dress and Adornment that Glitters.
- Chad Alice Hagan — Eye of the Hurricane, Felting and Fusion
- Chad Alice Hagen has been exploring hand felted wool and resist dyeing since 1979. She has her BA and MS from the University of Wisconsin and MFA from Cranbrook. Her work has appeared on the covers of Surface Design Journal, Fiberarts, and Shuttle, Spindle & Dyepot Magazine. Her large felt work is in several major collections. She is the author of two books on feltmaking and just completed her third book on hand felted scarves in 2007.
- Louise Lemieux Bérubé — Ebb Tide, Yardage Exhibit
- Louise Lemieux Bérubé holds a BA in Art History from the Université du Québec à Montréal. She also studied textile design in France, under those who designed Pointcarré software, and in the United States, at the Rhode Island School of Design She is the co-founder and director of the Center des Textiles Contemporains de Montréal where she teaches computer-assisted textile design.
- Catharine Ellis — Parrots and Peacocks, Functional Weaving Exhibit
- Catharine is an artist and teacher who divides her time between studio work and the Professional Craft Program at Haywood Community College in Clyde, North Carolina, where she has been the fiber instructor since 1978. She also teaches at the Penland School of Crafts and offers workshops internationally. Her work has been featured in Fiberarts, Handwoven, Shuttle Spindle and Dyepot, and Surface Design Journal. In 2005 she published a highly successful book, Woven Shibori.
- Diane Ericson — Dance of the Flamingos, Fashion Show
- Diane is an artist and pattern designer who is a frequent contributor to various fiber publications including Threads. Diane teaches workshops and retreats in various locations, and has become a recognized expert in the sewing field. Her company, ReVisions, publishes numerous patterns, stencils, and fabrics.
This distinguished panel of experts is waiting to see what you will create for this Convergence exhibit collection. The prospectuses and deadlines for all 8 exhibits can be found on the HGA website. So we hope you will review the possibilities and be inspired to contribute your work.
Whether this is your first Convergence or your next Convergence, we want it to be your best Convergence!
Florida Tropical Weavers Guild Convergence Exhibit
In celebration of our state and local guilds, FTWG will sponsor an exhibit of our member talent and creativity. The exhibit will be located in the downtown Tampa library from June 1 to June 30, 2008. The space is located on the mezzanine and includes wall space, locked glass cases and an area that we can cordon off if necessary. There are additional locked glass cases on the first floor and in the children's section.
In order to make this a simple process we are asking that each local guild assist by:
- Identifying a FTWG member to be the responsible person for sending and receiving items for the exhibit for your guild
- Select five items from FTWG members only in their guild for display
- Send a slide or picture of each piece to the address/email below, with the name and phone number of the contact person
- Guilds will be responsible for shipping the items to the contact person – all pieces in one shipment
- FTWG will be responsible for shipping the items back
For those FTWG members who are not members of a local guild, submit a picture file of your work that you are submitting. This will be a first come first serve selection — space for non-local guild members is limited to 15 items total.
The liability/release form will be posted on the web site and included in the newsletter in September. Dates for sending items will also be posted at that time.
For more information, please contact:
Jacki Malone