Sean C. Morgan
Fiber arts are getting their turn in the spotlight this winter with a new art show on display at City Hall.
Behind each piece, the quilts, doilies, cross-stitch, needlepoint, crocheting, knitting and felting, is a story, said Diane Gerson, president of SHOCASE and chairwoman of its Public Arts Committee.
The two-dimensional art show that started with the grand opening of City Hall came down last month, and the group’s second show, featuring fiber arts, officially opened Friday.
It is organized by SHOCASE, an acronym for Sweet Home Oregon Coalition for Artistic and Scholastic Enrichment, is a community group dedicated to advancing the arts in the Sweet Home community and schools.
SHOCASE’s inaugural art show, “Grand Opening, Grand Art,” opened last summer in the City Hall gallery space, which was established at the request of the group.
The new show features 27 physical pieces from Sweet Home artists, Gerson said. The Sweet Home Art Quilters also provided a “really fascinating” looping video presentation featuring more than 100 quilts made for queen and double beds that are too large to be physically displayed.
“It’s amazing what people do,” Gerson said. “I’m totally dumbfounded.”
Inside each block of the quilts are separate stitches, a smaller piece of art contributing to a larger overall effect, Gerson said.
In the show is an intricate Torchon lace angel fish, weaved through hundreds of tiny pins, by Ingeborg Krebs, Gerson said. Krebs also is showing a felt banner using wool from her own sheep.
Gert Helvey entered a self-portrait, while Linda Walker is displaying a quilt made of silk from her grandmother’s and great-grandmother’s collection. She also presents framed doilies from her mother’s and grandmother’s collections.
“It’s a nice way to preserve them,” Gerson said. “Every piece has a history. I just don’t know them all.”
Shennel Tucker is displaying a cross-stitch on linen, “Love, Peace and Harmony,” featuring an angel holding a baby and a dove.
“This is very fine and difficult,” Gerson said, and each stitch is two threads.
The show features two “samplers,” cross-stitch pieces using the alphabet. Gerson entered one and Tucker the other.
“Fall Leaves” by Peggy
Schroeder and a quilt by Susan Thompson feature hand-stitching, Gerson said.
Each piece is done differently, Gerson said. “It’s kind of cool. It highlights just the range of talent that we have in Sweet Home.”
“We didn’t get as many pieces as last time,” she said, but noted that pieces in the current exhibit are much larger than the paintings that dominated the last show.
Ed Miller, whose wife Elda won the People’s Choice Award in the last show, is displaying his sculptures in the glass display case. Gerson said the glass case will generally feature three-dimensional art along with smaller pieces that need to be locked up.
“The (East Linn) Museum display (at City Hall) will change next week,” Gerson said. “So people need to be sure to check it out.”
The show will remain on display through April 7.
Voting for the People’s Choice Award is open through Feb. 1. Voting forms for the public are available on the glass display case.
Some of the pieces are for sale, which must take place outside of City Hall. Contact information for artists selling their work is available at artinsweethome.org/artist.
Next up next will be a junior high and high school student art show, with selections of work to be displayed made by school officials.
After the student art show, the Public Arts Committee is considering a photography show, followed by something thematic in all media, Gerson said. The committee is open to suggestions from the public.
For information or to make suggestions, contact Gerson at (541) 990-2864 or email her at [email protected].