A Week of Museums in Los Angeles by Connie Tiegel

 A museum a day was a great plan for a trip taken by my daughter and me this summer. After a six hour drive from the Bay Area we started with the Getty Villa. Our timed entry ticket was for 3:30 pm which gave us an hour and a half to walk around this replica of a house in Herculaneum. The architecture is stunning and to see how it survived the January fires is miraculous. The artworks are amazing and reminded me that great civilizations produce great artworks.

Day two we visited The Broad in downtown LA. Ticketed entry for the Yayoi Kusama exhibit "Infinity Mirror Room" was a necessity. The line was not long but people could enter only with their own party. We entered together and enjoyed the feeling of infinity and took a few photos. 

 

The upstairs galleries were fascinating for the large pieces of modern art by Basquiat, Mark Bradford and more. For more information google The Broad.

Our next stop was for Lunch at the Grand Central Market, just a short walk away. Villa's Tacos are listed on the Michelin Bib Gourmand list so we had to try the "Trio". Excellent! Bonus was the "Angels Flight Railway" across the street. If you are not into stairways, it would be a fun thing to take the funicular up to the next street. Our day ended on the beach, just a short walk from our hotel.

Day three we had ticketed entry to the Getty Center. "Lines of Connection" and "Queer Lens" were exhibited. Both shows were educational for the materials on display and tremendous number of pieces illustrating the themes. After a couple of hours of roaming indoors we moved outdoors for incredible views of a clear day in Los Angeles and to walk the gardens. It was a hot day so walking in the gardens was pleasant and we saw many flowers that were new to us. Lunch followed in the covered and shady patio.

We ended up on the beach again before and after dinner.

Day four we went to the Huntington Gardens in San Marino near Pasadena. Another beautiful day in a spectacular garden, 16 themed gardens actually. To get the full story google Huntington Botanical Gardens. We headed right for the cactus garden and roamed it for over an hour, then veered off to the Japanese garden , then the Chinese Garden, the Rose Garden and finally we had to stop for a late lunch. We agreed we would have to do another trip to see the rest of the sections.

After we revived with lunch we ventured into the gigantic gift shop for some air-conditioned shopping. We looked for some Huntington Gardens branded merchandise but found very little. There were plenty of other interesting possibilities but they were not for us that day.

Again we ended up on the beach after dinner to watch the sun going down. It was a trip well worth taking.

Googling these museums will give you way more information and help in planning your own trip. There are so many more museums in LA worth visiting but we have saved those for another time.

CELEBRATE 25 YEARS ACN: 2011-2018

 Art Cloth Network continues to celebrate its 25th year.  While some early history remains only in the participants’ memories, as time went by, the organization became more professional.  The group shifted a bit and some original members moved on.  This began a second phase: new members were vetted, guidelines were established and a more focused and defined organization emerged.   Among the additions were a website, an active social media presence (ArtClothNetwork.blogspot.com; Facebook.com/ArtClothNetwork; Instagram.com/ArtClothNetwork), and a mission statement.  An annual juried call for an exhibition, articles in journals, show catalogs and the group’s developing reputation for world class, cutting edge textile art.

During this period a definition of art cloth was agreed upon: "ART CLOTH is cloth TRANSFORMED by adding or subtracting color, line, shape, texture, value, or fiber to CREATE a compelling surface."  It allowed for a wide range of artistic materials, techniques and artistic freedom.  It is currently undergoing revision.

Annual in-person meetings began to be held across North America as members from Canada joined the original US cohort.  Well vetted new members are juried in most years for a maximum of 35. Their acceptance is based on their commitment to their art practice, and their drive to keep ACN at the forefront of the contemporary fiber movement as determined by their submission portfolio.   ACN became a strong, well functioning organization during this phase.

Gerhard Richter in Berlin by Connie Tiegel

 While spending a weekend in Berlin in June this summer I visited the Neues Gallery for an exhibit of El Lessitzky. The exhibit was educational and exciting. Across the central hall of the museum was an exhibit of Gerhard Richter work. I had watched a documentary of his work and techniques a few years ago and was thrilled to see some of his work in person. I finally had a chance to see his work and study the strokes and gestures upclose in the paintings. This was a bonus for the weekend in Berlin.
 

New Flags for 2025-26 by Connie Tiegel

 The Theme this year is Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Since we are in danger of losing these words from our vocabulary I wanted to express them in a beautiful way and to send prayers to the universe for the return of these ideals. The blue flag has "Diversity" written on it in gold foil, the golden flag has  "Equality" in gold foil and the red flag has "Inclusivity" on it in gold foil.

I sit and watch them blow in the breeze while I braid and wind the flags from last year. In order to braid the flags I wash, dry, iron and cut them into one inch strips. Then I braid the first 3 strips, one from each flag. When I come to the end of a strip I hand stitch a new strip to it. At the end of each braiding session I wind the braid into a ball. I use the braiding sessions as a way to relax and reflect. I run out of strips after a month or two. 

Seattle Art Fair by Barbara Matthews

One weekend a year for the last nine years, an extraordinary celebration of art occurs in Seattle—the Seattle Art Fair. Galleries from around the world and the greater Northwest come together to show leading artists. Among the 80 or so booths, painted wall art predominates, however this year highlighted glass and even featured a hot shop--all excellently described. in the Seattle Times https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/visual-arts/seattle-art-fair-2025-provides-a-meeting-ground-for-art-lovers/

I want to highlight the fiber art that I found. As you might expect, a rather scanty percentage of the entire show consisted of fiber-related pieces. Because installation of the pieces sometimes required engineering, I try to capture the installation method.

1)      Deborah Butterfield – Wood Sculpted Horse

2)     Niki Keenan, Meteor Flower in the Astral Islands, acrylic on canvas, gauze, and plaster on wire frame,15x9x7 1/2 feet

3)      Flora Carlile-Kovacs, Waterscape II, Merino wool and silk, 30”x 60”, $4,980

4)      Seiko Purdue, Undisappeared Clouds, Ikat installation with wood, nails, cotton yarn dyed with natural dyes, 82”x73”x59”, one continuous yarn woven on nails,$4,000

  

Sonya Yong James, Shapeshifter, horsehair and thread, (limited details about the piece)

6)      Peter Combe, Liz w/ Pearl Necklace, Mixed media, 48”x60”, $26,000

7)     Ko Kirk Yamahira, Untitled, Graphite and partially unwoven linen and wood, 69”x69”, $8,300 and partially unwoven canvas 42”x42”, $5,800

8)      Brenda Mallory, Constraint to Vertical #17, Waxed cloth, nuts, bolts, 12”x28”, $3,500, sold

9)      Anida Yoeu Ali, The Red Chador Becoming Rogue, Many Chador garments available to try on (more photos in Seattle Times article).

Holly Ballard Martz, (Dis)regarded, Vintage quilts, thread, glass seed beads, hardware, 49”x12”x12”, $9,500

Angela Glajcar, several pieces, paper and linen(?)

Irene Palomar, Plastic World, Stretcher fabric, cotton yarn, plastic  packing thread, $1,800

Melissa Monroe, Duplicating Everything, Ceramic feet, found wood cat bench, paint, wool, 40”x13”x24”, $6,500 and Stay Awhile Crocodile, wool tufted and upholstered on wood bench, ceramic feet, 84”x19”x 15”, $8,500, sold.

The International Fiber Arts XII Biennial Exhibit, June 22-August 3, 2025, blog by Ileana Soto

In the greater California Bay Area, we benefit from numerous art centers that play a vital part in the health of their community. They include fiber-only exhibits as well as multi-media exhibits that welcome fiber pieces. One of those art centers, the Sebastopol Center for the Arts (SebArts) in Sebastopol, CA, sponsors a biennial show, “International Fiber Arts XII”, which opened on June 22nd . It was sponsored collaboratively by SebArts and the Surface Design Association. 84 artists were chosen by the Jurors, Jessica Hemmings and Ramekon O’Arwisters. I was honored to have a piece chosen, alongside two other Art Cloth Network artists, Deborah Weir and Viviana Lombrozo. This show was intentional in showing the ways that artists are pushing the boundaries of fiber. From the catalog: “In this exhibition, fiber becomes a medium of visibility: for identity, for protest, for care, and for joy. The works … come from a diverse range of artists … and together they reflect the deep, expressive potential of fiber at this cultural moment. They offer more than beauty; they offer presence, power, and perspective.” (Serafina Palandech, Executive Director)

On July 10th, I participated in a three-part panel with Mirka Knaster, George-Ann Bowers, and myself, at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts (SebArts) (https://seb.org). Jamienne Studley organized the questions for the panel and distributed them beforehand. That gave me an opportunity to prepare my thoughts … and appear spontaneous! Thank you, Jamie!

We were each invited to talk about our piece in the show from the perspective of what we wanted the audience to notice or understand about our piece. George-Ann shared the sequence of weaving steps that are compose the journey to the complexity of her woven “dresses”. The surface is dynamic and dimensional. Mirka talked about her artistic process through a series of slides of her work.

My piece is titled “On the Wings of Freedom”. Here’s what I had to say. This piece is a part of my Voting Rights series, inspired by the words and actions of civil rights activist John Lewis: “we will find a way, make a way out of no way.” I began to play with V shapes, creating “V is for Voting”, “Barbie Votes.” In this piece, the V’s have doubled, becoming wings, representing ‘wings of freedom.’ The ‘wings of freedom’ are a reminder that we can never give up the fight to encourage access to voting for all, to eliminate restrictions, to protect those in marginalized communities, and to safeguard and increase safety nets for those who have less. At one point while making this piece, after adding surface fabric, other color, over-printing, and stitch, it was not working. I recognized it and was (gulp) courageous enough to cut it into 3 sections that appeared to be good compositions. The next morning I woke up asking myself: what if I recombined the 3? The reorganization worked … the sum of the parts was greater than the original whole! The piece is printed on a section of a vintage, mended sheet from Belgium, so there are stitches that take the dye differently; there are irregular seams that give surprising results through dye and printing. That’s fun to me and creates irregularity that is unexpected. I value that.

We were then asked to talk about the evolution of our work. For myself, I focus on three aspects: 1) The theme: does it tell a story about our relationship to current events? 2) Is this an effective composition; how can I make it better? 3) Are the shapes, the marks, the expression, unique to me? When I look back at my work, I see that my basic themes climate justice, voting rights, immigration, culture and community are universal to our human condition and they are relevant today. Voting rights, (aka, human rights, Democracy, respect for one another, understanding that we’re all on this planet together and we must take care of each other) is still a concern. That is validating. Now is the time to add to my migration series. Migrants are our friends, neighbors, fellow human beings. It is legal for them to live in our world. We see on in our communities how cruelly migrants are being targeted. Also, we’re all asking ourselves how we can stay grounded in the midst of chaos and fear. How can we keep ourselves apprised, resist, and not let the outside narrative dominate our internal balance? Our art helps us to return to balance and then take effective action, whatever that might be. I think this winner of the first prize by Estzer Bornemisza, “Unseen Pangs”, reveals an unraveling waiting for repair.

Jamie asked us to think about the ways that fiber artists are pushing into new territories. The last three decades have seen the growth of 3-dimensional fiber pieces. In this show, artists are using beads, paper, wood, wire, sisal, recyclables, unrecyclables, electric cables, old saw blades, felt, inorganic and organic materials, to form their 3 dimensionality. It’s exciting to see: new uses of old materials; new uses of new materials. I also see artists I know continuing to explore and develop what they are drawn to, what they love to do and say. Judith Content’s muffin tins, with exquisite detailing, placed in antique muffin tins; then, she also takes her careful aesthetic sense into large outdoor and indoor installations. She makes sure we look more carefully at what we have.

Last, we talked about the benefits of arts organizations to the community. Local art organizations offer more than just exhibit opportunities. They educate their community of all ages about the joy and importance of art. Art is education. Art offers another way of thinking, using our hands and brains. Our hands are little brains. Some of our very talented artists may not do well in traditional school settings – and so art promotes self-esteem and success in life. Art organizations also form a community within their community. Sebastopol is 80 minutes north of the Bay Area. Within an hour’s time from my home, there are at least four vibrant local art organizations that include or feature exhibits with fiber: SebArts, Gallery Route One in Point Reyes, Olive Hyde Gallery in Fremont, and the O’Hanlon Center for the Arts in Mill Valley. I could name five others that I’m less familiar with. How about your area? I’d like to hear about community art centers in your area! I end with another quote from Serafina Palendech, Executive Director, from the catalog: “At a time when creativity and expression are being challenged and censored in many places – from classrooms to libraries to cultural institutions – fiber art offers a powerful reminder that art has always been a tool of resilience, resistance and remembrance. At SebArts, we are proud to stand with artists who speak through their work, and to hold space for voices that might otherwise be pushed aside.” Remember: now is the time to support your local art venues during this time in which funding is actively being taken away from the arts.