Music is an art that awakens emotions and imaginative imagery.  Many textile makers find a correlation between the notation of musical scores and textile drafts or patterns and use these similarities by blending fibers, patterns, and textures to evoke a feeling like a favorite melody. ALRI invites fiber artists to create works inspired by music for the new exhibition.

 In conjunction with Symphony in Fiber: Harmony in Color and Texture, Art League of Rhode Island is excited to present Weavers Duet: The Works of Norma Smayda and Laurie Carlson Steger. Smayda’s and Steger’s works, both independently and collaboratively, are inspired by music. With themes and variations of tone and structure, their textile compositions express a lyrical mood in a weaver’s duet. 

Location:

Art League RI Gallery and Tiernan Hallway Gallery

80 Fountain Street, Suite 107A, Pawtucket, RI 02860

Jurors:

Susan Ward is a curator, independent researcher, and lecturer specializing in 20th-century textile design and fashion history.  She worked on a wide range of research projects, exhibitions, and publications in the Textile and Fashion Arts. Dept. of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.  

Her other projects include:

Collaborator on Georgia O’Keeffe: Living Modern, an exhibition and catalog focusing on the artist’s wardrobe; Co-curator for the exhibition and catalog Knoll Textiles 1945-2010 at the Bard Graduate Center in NYC; and The Design Research retrospective installation in Cambridge in 2009. She has lectured on 20th-century textiles at the Concord Museum, Boston Architectural College, Mass College of Art, and Lexington Historical Society.

Norma Smayda is a Master Weaver, exhibitor, teacher, juror, and author, who trained in handweaving and related fiber arts in Norway and received an MFA in Visual Design from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. In 1974 she established and continues to run the Saunderstown Weaving School. Scandinavian design continues to be an important focus of her work, as well as the contributions of Weaver Rose and Bertha Gray Hayes.  She coauthored Weaving Designs by Bertha Gray Hayes: Miniature Overshot Patterns. More recently Smayda has immersed herself in weaving with fan reeds, and in designing and exhibiting her ondulé textiles, which culminated in her second book, Ondulé Textiles: Weaving with a Fan Reed.  She has received numerous awards for her exhibited work, the most prestigious of which are the Handweavers’ Guild of America Award for Creativity and Craftsmanship and the New England Weavers Seminar Weaver of Distinction Award. She is the Past President of the Handweavers’ Guild of America.

Laurie Carlson Steger is a Master Weaver who began weaving at an early age.   She earned a BFA in Textile Design and an MFA in Artisanry/Fibers from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.  Her artwork explored weaving with fiber optic lighting materials and led to consultant projects with industrial and smart textile applications. Recent awards include the Handweavers Guild of America Certificate of Excellence in Weaving and a Complex Weavers Award from the Chattahoochee Weavers Guild. Her work has been exhibited with Fiberart International, Fiberart Now: Excellence in Fibers, the Fuller Craft Museum, American Textile History Museum London Hat Week, and many art collaborations. She taught Textile Science at Boston area colleges and has led workshops/lectures at weaving guilds and textile conferences.  Steger is currently the Dean of the Weavers’ Guild of Boston.  She is a member of South End Woven, a cooperative weaving studio in the SoWa arts district in Boston. 

Smayda and Steger will have two collaborative pieces on exhibit at Convergence 2024 in Explorers of Wind, Wagons, and Wheat the juried exhibition of multi-media fiber art, sponsored by the Handweavers Guild of America, held in Wichita, KS. One collaborative piece was selected for Complexity 2024: Innovations in Weaving, a juried, international exhibition, sponsored by Complex Weavers Guild that will be featured at Mark Arts in Wichita, KS, before traveling to other venues and viewed in the online exhibition.

Important Dates:

• Exhibition Runs: May 3-31, 2025
• Opening Reception: Saturday, May 3, 2025, 5:30-7:30 pm
• Closing Reception, Saturday, May 31, 2025, 5:30-7:30 pm
• Open Call Opens: June 20, 2024
• Open Call Closes: March 29, 2025, 11:59 pm (EST)
• Jurying Cycle: March 31 - April 4, 2025 (Online/In-Person)
• Notification of Acceptance: Before or On April 6, 2025
• Drop-Off Dates:  In-Person: April 16-19, 2025, by appointment; Via Mail: by April 19, 2025
• Installation Dates: April 23-30, 2025
• Pick-Up Dates:  In-Person: June 2-6, 2025, by appointment; VIA Mail: Returned by June 18, 2025

 Awards:

• First Place: $300
• Second Place: $200
• Third Place: $100
• Honorable Mention (2)

Application Requirements

Requirements and Restrictions:

All works will be wall-mounted.  The maximum depth from the wall is 6”.  The maximum dimensions are 6’h_ x _6’w_ x_ 8”d_.   Maximum weight is 50 lbs. All hanging apparatuses must be easy to assemble for gallery staff. If a work requires multiple steps to complete the display of the work, please include detailed instructions for hanging and presentation of the work. Artwork previously exhibited with ALRI is not permitted. All work must be original. Work found to be copied from copyrighted work will not be hung. Work that does not adhere to the guidelines or is deemed not to be a faithful representation of the image submitted will not be exhibited.  Due to the gallery floor plan, we are unable to exhibit works that extend onto the length of the floor, hang from the ceiling, or are displayed on pedestals.

Eligibility Criteria

Artists over 18 years of age whose submission(s) meet the requirements stated above. Art League RI Members in good standing are eligible for a discounted entry fee. Please email office@artleagueri.org to request the discount code.