Rug/Tapestry Study Group Minutes October 12, 2013

Rug/Tapestry Study Group Meeting
October 12, 2013

Review of Inspired by Nature:
Take down will be November 1 by Lori and Mary (Victoria, Sue, and Catherine will help). It will be nice to have the tables to use for re-wrapping. Pieces can be picked up at the Studio beginning November 2.

Congratulations to all award winners:

Handwoven's "Weaving for the Home" Award of Excellence
Title: The Silence is Deafening
Artist: Jane Marie

Best Decorative Piece
Title: Cardinal in Apple Blossoms
Artist: Catherine Easton

Best Wearable Piece
Title: Summer Sunset (shawl)
Artist: Victoria Hilton

Best First Entry
Title: Child Sweater
Artist: Jane Mailand

Best Weaving Using Handspun Yarn
Title: Navajo Style Saddle Blanket
Artist: Mary Howell

Best Handspun Yarn
Title: Alpaca Yarn
Artist: Victoria Hilton

People’s Choice
Title: Fall Rosepath
Artist: Jan Tooker

Comments and notes for next time:

Theme: Liked having a theme, but “Nature” was too broad for some, worked well for others. It seemed to be represented well.

Venue (Westminster Presbyterian Church): Loved it, it was beautiful, but friends have expressed a desire to attend beyond office hours. Accessibility to the entire hallway was a problem. Not being in the Haymarket made it difficult for people to attend on First Friday, although the Haymarket is becoming crowded enough that people are hesitating to attend First Friday there. If we use Westminster again we may want to publish a number to call to set up another time to see the show outside the expressed office hours.

Publicity: It seemed pretty good.

Brochure: Sue’s flyers were some of the most professional we’ve seen coming from any of the art galleries/guilds. Should we add piece numbers to the brochure? Having pieces entered late makes this difficult but Sue could print the back page at the last minute.

Hanging: Catherine and Will did an amazing job. They spent a long day. The hanging enhanced every piece there. It helped to have all the pieces out on the tables to see them as they were planning what to hang where. Pieces need to have a little more information attached to them (the name of the piece, front and back, and the way they are to be hung). Having a time limit for the hanging was not good – needed a full day to hang. “Webbed fishing line” works better for hanging rugs and such.

Awards / Judging: Awards needed to stand out more, be a different color, or whatever to make it more obvious as they hang.

Wendy wants a letter for her department chair about our experience, Jan will write it using comments from the group (below):

Many found her critique constructive, helpful, not intimidating, especially for a first time exhibitor/ new weaver, definitely helpful. She not only made comments but went beyond to say how we could make our work better. We learned about construction and design from her input from a textile professional’s point of view. We told her we wanted constructive criticism, and the fact that we got some low marks showed she wasn’t just placating, and helped us learn. She was using an evaluation tool she’d had no input on, she worked from the moment she arrived till she was done, with no lollygagging. She also had no input on creating the award categories, and stepped up to the task. She had a considered, clear opinion expressed on each entry in the show, which were extremely varied. She admitted she’s not a spinner but still willing to make a comment and was helpful on that as well. She was pleasant to work with during the process. And we were pleased that she came to the opening, reviewed every piece again, and interacted positively in that setting as well. She expressed a desire to have a future show during the spring semester when she could bring students to show them what can be achieved. That felt like a real compliment. We will likely plan some workshops where we’ll bring our pieces in and review her comments so we can all learn from them. Some of our weavers were thrilled to meet her at the opening and get to know her.

Include non-woven pieces: We were surprised that the best first entry was not a woven piece. Discussion centered around only allowing woven pieces, or not awarding the non-woven (knitted or felted) pieces. We will discuss further at the time we are setting entry requirements for the next show. We want to be inclusive but difficult to set the point at which we’re too inclusive so as to lose our identity. We felt it was fine to include handspun yarns because it’s part of our stated purpose.

Food: It was good, easy to carry around, nothing sticky or gooey.

Other comments: Needed a sign instructing people to contact the weaver directly. Jan will send Cheryl a list with numbers, weaver’s info, etc. as people are asking during the month.

We will put together a folder of our notes, samples of publicity/brochures, etc., and a list of who we sent information to. This will be put in the file cabinet under show information. We’ll also put a digital copy on the studio computer.

Costs: Sue $175, Jan $71.51, Lori for coffee, mints, napkins (about $30). Cheryl moved and Victoria seconded that we round the amount to $20 for each of the 16 exhibitors. Motion carried. Everyone should pay Cheryl.