Explore Fiber > Fiber Art Advocacy

Fiber Art Advocacy

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.

Design, Industry, Architecture, Science & Fiber

  • Hearts Healed Through Weaving Innovation, TED Talk – With his unique inventions (including a device woven from threads of high-tech alloy by indigenous craftswomen), Franz Freudenthal saves children from congenital heart defects with the insertion of this device through natural body channels in 30 minutes, bypassing surgery.  Inspired by the native Bolivian weavers, he has created a device that mends the hearts in children around the world, saving lives.  Take a few minutes to hear his TED Talk presentation.
  • Textile as Architectural Material – This is a March 2017 post from inhabitat: Tower made completely from fabric breaks new ground in “soft architecture”.  This 30-foot lightweight tower proves that the strongest architectural structures don’t have to be made from hard materials like concrete and steel. In fact, the Hybrid Tower is completely made from soft materials and textiles. A group of researchers, specialists and engineers at CITA – Centre for Information Technology and Architecture– an innovative research program at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts (KADK)– developed the project as a proof of concept and exhibited it at the Contextile festival in Guimaraes, Portugal.
  • Jenny Sabin wins the 2017 MoMA PS1 Young Architects Program with ‘Lumen’ – Jenny Sabin’s pavilion, Lumen, crafted out of tubular fabric structures that respond to body density, heat and sunlight is the winning entry in the 2017 MoMA PS1 Young Architects Program competition.  This is an astounding fiber installation, creating the knitted and woven structure out of highly technological and responsive materials.  Read more about this work in the digital article from The Architects Newspaper.

Contemporary Fiber Art & Artists

  • Wall Street Journal Magazine article, By Michael Slenske, The Art World’s New Material Obsession: Fiber   Fiber art has seen a revival in the hands of contemporary artists exploring bold new forms
  • This link highlights a number of contemporary weavers in the UK
  • Charlotte Lindsay Allison -I am heartsick over the decision to drop fiber arts from your University. It seems only obvious the decision making is by those who are truly clueless. I beg you to reverse this decision. Why? Because had it not been for University, I might not have had the 50 years of business opportunities. I was enriched by the awakening of what fiber arts consisted. Truly, a lifelong adventure into discovery. This passion has carried me to the darkest corners of the earth. YES! To Ethiopia to set up a weaving program for orphans. To Cambodia…the forgotten land…living at a compound of orphans and teaching them to weave.  You absolutely cannot imagine what your decision will do and what a negative effect you will cause. I beg you to be open to changing your decision.
  • Adriana Flores – Working with fiber makes me a free woman, it empowers me and liberates me. It gives me a way of expression and now my financial support. It is sad to see how people subestimate the power of art.
  • Shannon Hardy – The textile world is just as important as drawing, painting, and sculpture.  The only difference being the use of “fiber” as the medium.  If a drawing or painting is hanging on a wall for the owners pleasure, or a sculpture installed for the same purpose, how is that any different than a piece of art created from a fiber base to produce the same result.  The “art” is there to interest the viewer and inspire thoughts and emotions from the piece.  Although fibers are at the very core of our utilitarian world (clothing, upholstery, accessories, bedding, home goods, etc.), they also have been valued throughout history with respect to art (tapestry, silk embroidery, woven sculpture installations, etc.).  I implore you to keep the fiber arts department alive and give students the chance to contribute their voice, in this medium, to the future.
  • Jan Miller – This is an incredibly short-sighted decision. We’re not just six spinsters from Witchita (to which anyone who’s attended Convergence, Complex Weavers, ATA or the Biennial can attest). One of our number wove the first artificial heart valve by hand out of silk in triaxial weave. NASA coined the term “spin-off” and named the Space Shuttle after our craft. Artists such as Judy Chicago and Diedre Scherer have made powerful political statements in the fiber arts. Lia Cook and others continue to forge ahead into new artistic and technological territory. The PBS show Craft in America has documented many more. And this barely scratches the surface. To dismantle a successful 80-year program is a travesty.
  • Susan McAtee Monday –  I find it deplorable and sexist that Fiber Arts programs in universities are being cut. The textile and fiber art industry (notable quilting, art quilts and surface design) are one of the most vibrant art markets in the U.S.Perhaps these universities are unaware that the International Quilting Festival in Houston is the largest convention held in that city, contributing millions in tourism and vendor sales. In many exciting instances fiber art is being seen on the cutting edge of the “fine art” world with artists such as Nick Cave, Janet Echelman, and many others.  Fiber arts are exciting parts of the curriculum in primary and secondary arts programs, and certainly children who find an interest and a direction for their creative work in fibers should have definite and precise courses of higher education available to them.  As a full time fiber art professional I hope that these policies are reexamined and reversed at North Texas State University and other institutions of higher learning.
  • Leisa Rich –  I am an MFA graduate from UNT 2007. I taught some of the fibers classes there. I am a practicing fiber artist and art educator. I exhibit my fiber art internationally, teach fiber art internationally, am in books/mags/zines/interviews and features of my works in fiber, I am writing a book about fiber artists/wearable artists/Cosplay and Fosshape, and I used free motion machine embroidery to create my published children’s book. Fiber arts utilizes every art material and discipline from other areas of art, from painting (dyeing, solar dyeing, silkscreen, hand painting, silk painting and more) to sculpture (fiber sculptures, knotting, netting, construction, armatures, plaster, woven dimensional pieces, basketry and more) to installation (yarn bombing, creating communal spaces, recycled mixed media environments, viewer-interactive, kinetic and more) to photography (digital images to silkscreen, manipulated images for quilting, images for heat transfer methods) to sewing and the hand arts (free motion machine embroidery, tatting, hand embroidery, crochet, knitting and more) and the list just goes on and on. Taking fibers means that you are a part of everything that is visual art! This is an uninformed decision on UNT’s part, or perhaps an exclusionary decision that is an erroneous one. I beg you to reconsider. The graduates who are successful are many, from Lesli Robertson and her fantastic outreach works in many countries, to Anila Quayyum Agha‎ and her prize winning lit environment/installation works, the many grads working in the textile industries, among many, many other talented people. Find another building, find the $, we beg of you. This is an important program!

Art Education

  • Texas Essential Knowledge & Skills – these standards that all state art educators are charged to develop their art curriculum around were revised and adopted in 2013.  As early as 3rd grade, Fiber Arts are incorporated into the standards and continue all the way through high school.
§117.111. Art, Grade 3, Adopted 2013, (b) Knowledge and skills, (2) Creative expression, (C) produce drawings; paintings; prints; sculpture, including modeled forms; and other art forms such as ceramics, fiber art, constructions, mixed media, installation art, digital art and media, and photographic imagery using a variety of materials.
TEKS for 3rd grade Art
§117.305. Art, Level IV (One Credit), Adopted 2013, (c) Knowledge and skills, (2) Creative expression, (F) create artwork, singularly and in a series, by selecting from a variety of art materials and tools appropriate to course work in drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, fiber art, design, digital art and media, photography, jewelry, and mixed media.
TEKS for High School art Level IV (12th grade or AP Art

Art Educators

  • Katherine Pinkham, Clark High School, Plano ISD – I received some disheartening news about my beloved CVAD program at UNT. I have heard that the Fiber Arts program will be ending very soon, possibly to make way for more ceramics, or other media. This hits me hard as an educator, because the fiber arts are something that every student can enjoy. Every student lives in a fiber-covered world. Who hasn’t enjoyed the comfort of a blanket, or sweater, or plush toy? We all have, and that understanding and comfort drives students to explore fibers in a way that they cannot do with other media.
    I personally chose introductory weaving  over introductory ceramics as I was completing my Visual Art Studies degree for k-12 art education, and it was such a stroke of luck for me. I had a blast, as did my classmates. I had no idea that this sort of art form was alive and well before I saw it at UNT. I now own a full size floor loom for myself, as well as one for my students. I am the 3D sculpture and design teacher at my school, and while almost every high school campus in my district has kilns, I can proudly say that we have the looms, felting supplies, and knitting needles. Fiber arts are part of our TEKS for art in high school; students must “demonstrate effective use of art media and tools in drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, fiber art, design, and digital art and media.”
    I’ve attached a copy of an article that featured some of my students’ work on explorefiber.com. This is a very small sampling of my student work considering I teach about 150 students a year, and all are required to do a weaving and sewing artwork, but I hope it shows some of the importance that fiber arts hold for me and my kids.

Arts & Fiber Organizations

  • Americans for the Arts has a set of research papers focused on data in Arts and Education
  • Vanessa Vyles -As a former board member of the Dallas Hand Knitters Guild I can vouch for the fact that Dallas has a vibrant fiber arts community and the program at UNT is a vital part of that. We have collaborated directly with the program to have Professors Adelman and Robertson come and present to our Guild. We have many area yarn and fiber stores and students frequently find jobs working in our local shops. One of them even taught me awesome plying hacks when I decided to expand my repertoire beyond knitting into spinning. Part of the reason we have such a strong community is the commitment to education and the fostering of interest in the fiber arts. Dallas-Fort Worth supports a fiber festival with a national profile and a strong annual yarn crawl with many participating shops. There is both room and need for a strong fiber arts program to work in symbiosis with this and support it and grow it.
  • Dallas Handweavers & Spinners Guild – Our organization was founded in 1972 and we have maintained a strong & productive relationship with Professor Adelman.  Not only have we arranged joint weaving workshops for our members and UNT weaving students in the campus facilities, we have also provided scholarships to the UNT weaving students to attend weaving workshops at other locations.  These relationships are symbiotic and important.  Professor Adelman has worked tirelessly to connect her students to real world opportunities.  Our organization has also donated funds to assist the fibers program purchase expensive equipment, when Professor Adelman reached out to the community for assistance.  She was able to realize her goals and obtain the equipment she needed, which will now go fallow if the program is dissolved.  Fibers are an important 21st c. material and medium in contemporary art.  The University is being very short sighted in abandoning a vibrant program, which is one of the last in the state of Texas.
  • Surface Design Association, Astrid Hilger Bennett, SDA President –  I’m writing to you today as Board President of the Surface Design Association (SDA), a 41-year-old international educational nonprofit focused on contemporary fiber art and design. SDA publishes a well-regarded quarterly print Journal focused on contemporary issues in fiber art, highlighting also educational programs and the next generation of makers and thinkers. Our Board is composed of some of the best minds, academics, nonprofit administrators in our field. Our Outstanding Student Awards have been awarded to UNT students, including to Krissi Riewi in 2018.
    From this broad vantage point, I’m writing to you to express our grave concerns about the UNT’s announced closure of the fiber arts program at the end of this upcoming academic year.
    We have known Amie Adelman for many years and watched her success in growing the program and turning out exceptional students. Recently, we were delighted to observe that UNT 2011 graduate Sarah Zapata, a young emerging artist now living in Brooklyn, was featured in the February/March 2018 issue American Craft magazine, which highlighted her exhibitions and residencies at the prestigious Museum of Art and Design in New York City. This is an opportunity many artists covet over their lifetimes, and she achieved it as an emerging artist. In talking to us about her projects, she noted the importance of her education at UNT, and the university is mentioned in the article as well.
    This is a very exciting time for textiles and fiber art. In addition to the strong maker movements, we are seeing:
    • major coverage in national media such as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times
    • well known painters and sculptors embracing textiles in their crossover projects and installations.
    • textiles being explored for ties to culture and identity
    • important conversations at the academic and grassroots level about sustainability and the future of the fashion industry, a huge consumer of water and herbicides that we are all a part of. These conversations involve sustainable alternatives to current dye practices, with an explosion of interest in natural dye and slow fashion and digital design.
    In all of these areas, exposure to these topics benefits all students at K-12 and university levels, not just art majors. Students having access to collaborative approaches with multiple media is fruitful and increases creative thinking in all aspects of life.
    We urge you to consider carefully the loss that closing the department will mean.

Alumni

  • Julie Miller – In 2003, I earned a BFA in Fibers from the UNT program that is now on the chopping block. My heart is saddened by this profit driven decision. Fiber art spans around the world for thousands of years. From tapestry to shibori to woven fiber optics, fiber art is integral to our history and our bleeding edge aesthetic. While Fibers may not have huge student enrollment nor drive profits, UNT’s longstanding commitment to education in Fiber Arts has helped to position UNT as a leader in Arts education. The decision to end the Fibers program at UNT is not based on its validity or necessity as an art form. All students in UNT Visual Arts programs will be impacted negatively, and it is indeed very sad to see this happen.
  • Joe A Thomas – I am an alumnus of North Texas (B.F.A. 1982). My concentration was art history, but everyone thought I was a ceramics or weaving concentration–I alternated senior studio courses in the two areas. I’ve been an administrator for much of my academic career; I understand the pressures that are brought to bear in making a decision such as this, so I know it could not have been an easy one. However, it seems a very inopportune moment to delete yet another in a long list of disappearing fiber/textiles programs. Because of their increasing rarity, it’s something that helps to distinguish North Texas from other programs–it defines it as a truly comprehensive art school. And the art world is finally waking up to the potential of the medium. I would estimate that full 25-30% of the work in the last Venice Biennale were either primarily or secondarily fiber/textile based. (I took to calling it the “Fibers Biennial.”) I would encourage those involved to seek out other options–through fundraising or further study–that would allow the retention of this program. The public rationale–space issues relative to expansion–rings quite hollow to anyone familiar with studio disciplines. Fiber is not a “space hog” compared to most programs, so it seems bizarre that room cannot be found for it.

Student Voices

  • Allison Interrante -I am a sophomore year student at Texas A&M. It has been brought to my attention that UNT plans to stop educating students in the genre of fiber art. During my high school art career I had the privilege to work with multiple fiber mediums. Through these projects I fell in love with fiber art. The first project I worked on was a cloth mache monster. I later learned the process of felt needling. However my favorite fiber art process was weaving on the loom. I would often find myself eating my lunch in the art room so that I could work on the loom more often. I can not imagine my art education without fiber. To leave it out of an art curriculum will only weaken an artist’s education.
  • Jackie Lawrence – I’m a senior in the Fibers program at UNT. I hope I never have to say I was one of the last Fibers majors at this school. I came to UNT originally to study graphic design and over the course of 3 years switched majors multiple times until I started taking Fibers classes just for fun, and knew in my gut that this was where I belonged! This program has given me direction in my life, has allowed me to work with fiber material in new and unexpected ways, and overall has equipped me with a strong sense of empowerment. I know how all my materials are made, where they came from and what they are capable of, and because of this knowledge I am a valuable artist, maker, thinker, worker, and overall person. I may be graduating but I am also here to fight for all those whose degree plans are jeopardized!
  • Rachel McGee -I am one of UNTs last fiber arts majors, having graduated in the Spring of 2018. The fiber arts program was why I chose to go to UNT! If it were not for that program, I probably would have attended a different school, and perhaps would not have majored in the fine arts at all. The decision to study fibers was one of the best choices I have made in my life, and without that program I would not be the artist or person I am today. UNT is losing out on new exciting art and a beautiful community.
  • Myla Rodriguez – To say that because in “good conscience” UNT is not able offer the program without the appropriate space is absurd. Though a dent in budget after having built a $70 million building is substantial to say the least, this only further pushes the very strong, popular notion that the Fiber Arts Program has not been given a stage to continue and flourish despite the space this program has still occupied. According to an email you sent out to students on the 15th of August, the historical and modern value of fiber is far from unknown to you. While you say this, the value of Fiber Art is clearly being undermined. Art is with no argument, everywhere; and it is the responsibility of academic institutions such as UNT to defend this fact. Defend it knowing that there are museums across the globe, including The George Washington University Textile Museum in D.C. wholly dedicated to the preservation of textile arts. Defend it knowing that the manual labor involved in creating such a piece of artwork is priceless. And defend it knowing that there is a history worth passing on for generations to enjoy. By removing a program, one of the few major Fiber Arts programs in Texas, that allow students and masters alike to express themselves in arguably one of the most traditional forms of art out there, you are neglecting not only the valuable work force that comes with it, but an integral history you claim to hold with such respect.

Museums

  • It really says something when a Smithsonian museum chooses to highlight a weaver in a museum that’s on a local, national, and international platform. A weaver from Oaxaca, Porfirio Gutierrez, was invited as a vendor at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival this year and the NY Times recently published an article about his family who weaves in the Zapotec tradition and highlighted their use of natural dyes.
  • Here is a link from an exhibition that the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum is showing the work of weaver Richard Landis.

We need your voices, and we need them now.  Thank you for taking the time out of your busy life to educate others and to stand united!  We can use this page for other fiber arts advocacy needs.  Let’s show the power of a strong, passionate community!