In a message dated 8/1/07 7:09:58 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > Yes, I think that by making a traditional design big, it becomes > contemporary. > > The recent Radical lace exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Design featured a > > lot of things that were, for instance, porcelain or metal and had sort of a > lacy look to them. Virtually unplumbed was the vast possibility of art made > > with lace technique. When you think of it, it would be rather hard for a > curator > to find these artists, since there is no real directory to them. A virtual > gallery could bring them all together in one place. etc. etc. > Dear Lacemakers,
I mean, in this memo, to provoke thought - not to anger. At the time of the Radical Lace exhibit, I received private correspondence that asked why anyone would think what was presented was really the beautiful lace to which we are devoted. The feeling was that we should not, as lacemakers, feel we have to march to the "Radical" drummer's beat. For example, many quilt shows draw audiences, without being radicalized. There are artists who are quite capable of pushing ahead to new types of quilts without changing their inherent character. I would like to recommend the Summer 2007 issue of "FiberArts" magazine for many ideas that might be explored or thought about, starting with having a central clearing house for sending out press releases about interesting Lace exhibits, books, seminars, symposiums, teachers, etc. Look at what others are successfully doing! The cover of this Summer issue of "FiberArts" is coffee-colored, with a tall basket with handle on the cover (basketry is considered a fiber art). Magazine can be purchased at the major book stores - Barnes & Noble and Borders. www.fiberarts.com Go to Back Issues for Summer 2007. Some items, but not all, that I found of interest:: p. 8 - International Textile Artists Gather in Costa Rica, Form Network p. 10 - Press release about Shelia Hicks, the very artist Devon referred to in her 8/1 memo. Seems she won the gold medal at the international contest for book design, Schonste Bucher aus aller Welt. The book, about miniature sculptures and weavings, accompanied her exhibition at the Bard Graduate Center. p. 12 - Information about the Coby Foundation, which distributed $400-thousand in grants in 2006, including to the Radical Lace & Subversive Knitting show. p. 18 - Report of Metropolitan Museum's exhibit, closing Sept. 3, featuring handcrafted objects, "One of a Kind: The Studio Craft Movement". I could not resist wondering if any lace is included. It said the museum regularly acquires works in studio-craft media, including fiber arts. Curator is Jane Adlin. p. 18 - Announcements of upcoming conferences: "Innovations in Textiles 7" in St. Louis, and "European Textile Network" in London. p. 32 - Article about how the abstract beauty of medicine, technology, and math inspire artists. Includes two color photos of crochet inspired by paper models of hyperbolic planes (we wrote about this "inspiration" on Arachne last year. p. 68 - A 2-page article, with photos, on the actual Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting exhibition. p. 62 - Long lists of current and coming events, listed by State names, in alphabetical order. This runs for 6 full pages! p. 70 - List of competitions and opportunities, 2 pages. The point is - I rarely find lace mentioned in an 80-page magazine devoted to fiber arts. We are failing to publicize lace! I am quite convinced that we can influence people to love lace in it's basically traditional form (not combined with pottery/metals/woods), if we just make a few assertive moves. We need to step out of the shadows in the media - for the sake of Lace. Lacemakers must better understand Public Relations so we can make Public Relations work for us! Jeri Ames in Maine USA Lace and Embroidery Resource Center ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
