Explore Fiber is a collaborative website showcasing and exploring fiber as a fine art material.
I am Christine Miller, founder and operator of Explore Fiber. I live in the state of Texas and have been a life long fiber artist. I am a 2005 graduate of the University of North Texas with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (emphasis in art education), and 2016 graduate from Texas Womans University with a Masters of Art Education. I am a woman of a certain age, which means that I have witnessed the closing of fiber arts programs throughout my lifetime. To name a few, and in no particular order, the programs that have been dismantled were at The Craft Guild of Dallas, Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, and Texas Woman’s University. Now, my alma mater, the University of North Texas wants to disassemble one of the LAST fiber programs in the state of Texas. I am dedicating a page of my website to list advocacy tools in support of reconsidering this plan; it is my belief that the administration of the University do not understand the power of fibers in 21st century fine art and art education, and we need to educate them.
We want to hear from you! We want to hear from art educators, art students, fiber artists, and art education administrators about the power of fibers as a fine art material. We want to make our voices heard, loud and clear, that fiber is an essential material in human beings’ lives and is an art material as important as any other material.
8/15/18 Memo (read full memo from link) from University of North Texas, College of Visual Arts and Design Dean Greg Watts, After extensive analysis and painstaking deliberation, I am announcing the decision to discontinue the Studio Art department’s concentration in fibers for undergraduate and graduate degree programs at the end of the 2018-19 academic year.
For this advocacy call to action, The University of North Texas expects that there will be an outcry from the community about the dissolution of the fibers program, but they expect it to die down quickly. It is imperative that any action you take should be repeated or added to in order to keep the pressure up. Emails are important to send, but hard copies should also be mailed to each contact person. Click this link for contact information to direct your email and hard copy communications to.
As you send me links, files, or documents, I will embed them into this page. I have started with links I know of. Please also send us a message in the form below! We will gather these messages and will take them to not only this University that is threatening our passion and our livelyhoods, but we will use these advocacy tools for other programs that need to understand the power of fiber art. You may also contact us through this form if you have questions, suggestions, or ideas.