TAPESTRY WEEK

ATA is excited to launch an exciting week of presentations from talented and skilled tapestry weavers who have contributed immensely to the field of tapestry. Taking place during the first week of March (see schedule below), we will host four presentations beginning at 4 PM Pacific / 7 PM Eastern via Zoom. This program is free for members of ATA, so we ask that you do not share the link with non-members (but please encourage them to join!). REGISTER HERE to receive the Zoom link which will work for all four presentations. A reminder with the Zoom link will be sent out to registrants 1-2 days before the meet-up.

Monday, March 3
Mary Lane, former executive director of ATA, will share her studio practice and provide a peek into her weaving studio. Mary is an artist and art historian who began weaving tapestry in 1976 and in 1982 became a founding member of the Scheuer Tapestry Studio in New York City. Her tapestries have been published and exhibited internationally and have been collected by both private and corporate art collections, including the IBM Corporation, the State of Maine, the City of Seattle, the Regional Arts and Culture Council, the Northland Investment Corporation, and Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital. Lane’s writing on contemporary textiles has been published widely. Her teaching experience includes Parsons School of Design, the University of Maine, and The Evergreen State College. 

Tuesday, March 4
Nancy McRay, is a “fiber artist … mostly a weaver” of tapestries who pushes the medium out of its historic, domestic context, and into the Capital “A” Art world. She holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Michigan/Fiber Art; but getting there wasn’t a straight line in an academic system that lodged the fiber arts — weaving especially — in the home economics department. Nancy has worked as a studio artist and community arts organizer since 1994. Go here to read a wonderful interview with Nancy.

Wednesday, March 5
Susan Gangsei’s new series, “The Sacred Journey of Aging,” explores the passage of growing old. Old age is another life passage, just like adolescence and midlife. Getting older is paradoxical with its rewards and losses, and the feelings of both gratitude and grief. We need to be in it, ponder it, and hopefully come to a place of acceptance and celebration. Susan will share her journey with this project and how she was able to develop a book and obtain funding to share her work with her community. 

Thursday, March 6
Janet Austin studied fiber arts at Massachusetts College of Art (BFA 1978), and painting at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (MFA 1981). After weaving and selling functional items (rugs, scarves, shawls, pillows, etc) for 8 years, the weaving and painting merged into tapestry, her primary medium since 1983. Her work has been exhibited in national and international venues, including tapestry, fiber art, and all media exhibitions. Janet served eight years on the board of directors of the American Tapestry Alliance (ATA), and fifteen years as Coordinator of Tapestry Weavers in New England (TWiNE). She weaves, paints, draws, lectures, writes, and teaches in East Greenwich, RI.