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The Challenge of Sauder Village

 

Susan Feller (l) and myself (r) at Sauder Village Rug Hooking Week.
Susan Feller (l) and myself (r) at Sauder Village Rug Hooking Week. WHIMSY is right over my head. Sadly, I believe that she was the only all non-wool rug there.

Last week I attended Sauder Village Rug Hooking Week. Because I didn’t register for any of the retreats or classes,  I spent three days taking in the various exhibits and hooking and meeting folks I’ve only communicated with through Zoom or social media. That was a great thing, the best of my SV experience. I must admit that I did very little hooking, LOL. Hey, I’m sociable!

I chose to attend SV this year because last fall I’d been asked to serve as a judge for Rug Hooking Magazine’s Celebration 33. And Susan Feller had coaxed me to leave the HOT Southwestern desert with an offer of rooming with her. Other than on Zoom, I hadn’t met with Susan since a big rug show in Connecticut in 2014. Win!

Hooked rug at Sauder Village
VERMONT PORTRAITS, hooked and designed by Jennifer Davey, was one of my favorite Celebrations finalists. I love its colors and graphic nature.

Of course, I had to get to Archbold, Ohio. Given clothing and the frame and other hooking “stuff,” I opted to drive. That’s 23 hours on the road, not counting food-, tea-, and pee-stops. Sleep too! But I really don’t mind driving and seeing the country. And Pandora follows me wherever I go, so I had tunes.

Given that I wasn’t participating in classes, I think that I might have had a difficult time finding my bearings if Susan hadn’t acted as my Obi Wan. We had work to do too. We’re in the midst of recruiting teachers and lecturers for In the Studio Online’s Workshop Week 2024 (in February). It was nice to have someone who knows through and through the who, what, where, when, and how of SV and Rug Hooking Week.

The night before the show opened to the public, we classroom-hopped seeing what the retreat students were creating. It was an excellent way to “run in” to folks too.

Of course, the rug show and special exhibits were quite amazing. Certainly, there was fabulous artistry and quality hooking to be seen. As I walked into the hall, I was pleasantly surprised to see my own WHIMSY hanging right at the front of the Celebrations exhibit. Which is the very first thing you see! The three of us judges were encouraged to send in rugs to hang with the finalists’ pieces. Seeing the scale and the true colors of the rugs I’d assessed in January using online pictures was eye-opening.

Meeting Remi Levesque of Nova Scotia, the mastermind of the USA50 Hooked Cushions was perhaps my favorite part of the entire trip. (I had hooked the New Mexico cushion.) Remi is…delightful! Susan and I went out for Mexican with him and another new Canadian friend. He was on top of the moon as his exhibit had won the Sauder Award earlier in the week.

Remi Levesque
Remi Levesque holding his Sauder Award ribbon in front of the USA50 exhibit.
USA50 Cushions exhibit at Sauder Village
Part of the USA50 Cushion exhibit. New Mexico is on the far right. It was designed by indigenous potter Patricia Lowden (Acoma Pueblo), hooked by me, and put together by friend Ruth Simpson.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were several special exhibits: Inspired Vessels, Amish Rugs, Rugs by Theodore Sizer, the USA50 Cushions, and Lift Every Voice. More on that last one in a bit. Then there were guild challenges, group exhibits, a display of Cushing’s Duncan rugs in all kinds of color combos, the Golden Age of Fairy Tale rugs, rugs that had been entered into the show in various categories (floral, braiding, miniature punch needle, Orientals, originals, and so on). There were 3-D rugs and applique and “fusion.” To tell you the truth, there were so many things to see that I suffered “rug fatigue.” I’d turn a corner and there’d be something I missed the previous day. In the end, I don’t think that I saw everything.

And don’t forget, ringing the show, were all kinds of vendors. If you needed wool, you’d come to the right place. I still get a little itchy just thinking about it. (I am allergic to wool, though I still use it in some of my work.)

Hooked rug by Nancy Thun
TOWERING ABSTRACTION by Nancy Thun. I loved Nancy’s rugs. Her GRAND CANYON -YELLOWSTONE was a Celebrations finalist.

 

Hooked rug by Judy Shields, Designed by W. Cushing CO.
While I typically prefer an original; rug, I thought that this and most of the pieces in the exhibit inspired by Alida Bayne Akers‘ paintings were charming. TULIP TIME was hooked by Judy Shields.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PRIVILEGE by Kris McDermet
PRIVILEGE by Kris McDermet. It was pretty impossible to get a full photo of this 3-D piece. You’re looking through a door/window to outside. It asks the question: What does it mean NOT to have shelter? Don’t we all deserve shelter?

One of the exhibits stood out for more than its artistry. Other than Kris McDermet‘s “Privilege,” there were few pieces that highlighted social issues. Most were decorative, which isn’t wrong, certainly, but I do value art that is beautiful and well done and challenges me in some way. I can truly appreciate all the work that goes into creating a large, hooked Oriental to use on the floor or a gorgeous landscape to put on the wall. But our world is troubled; art that I see or make should – at least sometimes – help me make sense of it.

Design by Catlett; hooked by Lisa Meechem.
“MY RIGHT IS A FUTURE OF EQUALITY WITH OTHER AMERICANS.” In the pic you can see the original print. Hooker Lisa Meechem is Canadian but states that both countries have a shared history of discrimination and segregation regardless of “emancipation.”

The Lift Every Voice exhibit wildly moved me and others who took the time to read the texts that accompanied the artwork. Most visitors did not. Of those who did, some actually cried, especially when they got to Deirdre Pinnock‘s piece. Maddy Fraioli coordinated this exhibit, and all contributions were based on Elizabeth Catlett‘s own prose (third paragraph below).

Fourteen American and Canadian women, spanning the continent from Nova Scotia to Seattle and Vancouver collaborated on hooking the series of fifteen block prints that artist Elizabeth Catlett first produced in Mexico City in 1947. During the pandemic in 2021 and 2022, of the 14 artists, 6 of us are black, 2 of us are Canadian, and the remaining 8 are white and from the U.S. We found common bonds of purpose and passion during the period of time that we worked to complete our rugs

We met on zoom, chose the prints through lottery, discussed the artist, and reflected on how we might approach our hooked pieces so that they accurately reflected on what Ms. Catlett had conveyed over 70 years ago when she first produced this collection of social justice block prints.  We recognized that Ms. Catlett’s’ images and message resonate as much now as they did then.

“I am the black woman. I have always worked hard in America, in the fields, in other folks’ homes. I have given the world my songs. In Sojourner Truth I fought for the rights of women as well as Blacks. In Harriet Tubman I helped hundreds to freedom. In Phyliss Wheatley I proved intellectual equality in the midst of slavery. I have studied with ever increasing numbers. My role has been important in the struggle to organize the unorganized. My reward has been bars between me and the rest of the land. I have special reservations, and a special fear for my loved ones. My right is a future of equality with other Americans.”
-Elizabeth Catlett

 

Deirdre’s piece is of a lynching. She had this to say about the print she chose:

Hooked by Deirdre Pinnock
One side of “AND A SPECIAL FEAR FOR MY LOVED ONES.” Hooked by Deirdre Pinnock. Yes, that is a lynching portrayed in hooked art.

I originally chose three pieces that I liked from the collection. I had no intention of following through on rug hooking a lynching. At the time I was being righteous in trying to find my way to voice: “I am the BLM movement” and that I’m not okay with the six lynching’s that occurred in the USA in 2020-2021.This image was subliminally at rest in my head, and now it is real… it’s in my hand. So, what else could I do but give this man back his voice, to give him dignity and show him kindness. Give him Life.

Note the Life in the grass and lively yellow flowers, his bright bloody red shoe bottom, a crisp clean white shirt, baby pink open hand, and the Dapper Dan purple socks… all wrapped in silken golden lasso that I made with laboured respect.

Through the creation of this piece, I experienced traumatizing tearful moments. I did find my joy after letting myself rest and letting the piece rest for several months — it was necessary. I reprimanded myself to get back to giving this man his dignity. I did this through my colour schemes. Please note he is lynched on one side of the canvas and not the other side again giving him LIFE! This work should hang with both sides evident to the public. I’m so proud of myself for completing this work through all my trepidation, inner battles, self-doubt, and even the anger that I, the Woman of Colour, was faced to do this lynching piece out of Catlett’s collection.

In conclusion, racial diversity in rug hooking is missing. The honour to work with art by a Black woman artist was a thrill. After 22 years of doing Rughooking, I’ve only met two rug hookers of colour, and one of them is me. We’re both in Canada paying homage to a woman that was not given a seat at the table in 1950’s America. In 2023, the sisterhood of rug hookers gave me a seat at the table. I present this work to the Rughooking community that proves that change has come and it’s here to stay. This piece will start the conversation for a need in diversity of people and of art. I believe it’s truly needed in the crafting of Rughooking; is not just crafting anymore; it’s a place to have a voice, to be brave, and truly never give up on one’s art no matter how controversial or Vincent van Gogh – traumatizing it may be. I’ve kept my ear through it all.”

 

Sadly, this display is so very timely today given our current events. You can read all about each piece in Rug Hooking Magazine‘s January/February, 2023, issue. Or see where the exhibit’s off to next.

Lift Every Voice as well as the demographics of Rug Hooking Week participants and viewers made it very clear how our rug hooking community lacks diversity – of skin color, of age, of income, and of gender. While there’s nothing wrong with being an older, white woman, if that describes us all (and it pretty much does), our art is going to disappear as we disappear. Of course, it’s not just hooking; many fiber art organizations suffer from the same problem. I’m 59; in my guild there’s one woman who’s 58. We’re the “babies.”

When I walk into Sauder Village, I should see the  past, present, and future of rug hooking. I don’t see the future, the young folks who are experimenting with punch needle and even tufting. Maybe they learned how to punch on YouTube. Maybe they don’t bind a rug like we do or follow the “rules.” But we need those people to keep our art viable and relevant in coming decades. I suspect they’re not too interested in primitive patterns or many of the themes we saw in the rugs at Sauder this year. Let’s invite them and ask them what and how they make art on their monk’s cloth or linen. Let’s learn about each other. There’s room enough in rug hooking for all of us.

Donna Hrkman with her piece THE RED BIRD. Sauder VIllage winner.
Congratulations, Donna Hrkman on receiving a People’s Choice Award for THE RED BIRD. “The Red Bird” rug is a tribute to a Lakota Sioux woman who survived being taken from her family as a child and sent to a Residential School. She survived cruel treatment and went on to become a writer, poet, and teacher. She was called Red Bird because it is a symbol of courage.”

 

 

NIGEL, "textile taxidermy" by Yvonne Iten-Scott. Sauder Village winner.
Yvonne Iten-Scott also won a Sauder Village People’s Choice Award for NIGEL, her “textile taxidermy” piece.

 

SHAKER TREE OF LIFE, rug hooked by Karen Buchheit, designed by Lucille Festa as adapted from a design by Hannah Cohoon
I absolutely love this rug. Wish the pic was better. SHAKER TREE OF LIFE is a Celebrations finalist. It was hooked by Karen Buchheit and designed by Lucilla Festa as adapted from a design by Hannah Cohoon (in 1854).

 

GOOD VIBRATIONS/ACID SNOW designed and hooked by Becky Headley. At Sauder Village.
This is fabulous! GOOD VIBRATIONS/ACID SNOW was designed and hooked by Becky Headley. It was part of a “snowflake” exhibit by the Friendship Rug Hookers.
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MAVWA UPDATE – Punch needle class info (and more!)

Updated information

Logo for the Mountain and Valley Wool Festival, updated MAVWA
Logo for the Mountain and Valley Wool Festival

Mountain and Valley Wool Festival
Santa Fe in October

If you read the previous post from way back in June – hey, it’s summer and I’m enjoying a break! – you saw that I’ll be teaching an all-day workshop on punch needle rug hooking. At that point, I didn’t have the info on when the class would happen. I do now!

The class will be on Thursday, October 5. It starts at 9:00 and ends at 5:00 or whenever you decide you’ve punched plenty. Because MAVWA’s workshops happen on Thursday and Friday, students won’t miss any of the festival events that weekend. In fact, because my workshop is Thursday, you can still take a class on Friday too! See both days’ offerings HERE.

Punch needle rug hooking
Punch needle by Amy Oxford. Original design.

If interested, please note:
To allow folks from places afar to plan, festival organizers make decisions about workshops running in early September. If they don’t think they have enough students by around Labor Day, they will cancel a class. It happened to me last year. If you think you want to take a class, forget late registration. Do it now! Or plan on a private lesson here in Albuquerque. That also happened last year. LOL

In addition to this MAVWA update, take a peek at our CALENDAR page. There are some new listings just today. Most exciting is that I’ll be teaching a INTRO TO RUG HOOKING at Convergence in Wichita next July. I am sooooo thrilled. HGA (Handweavers Guild of America) hasn’t yet put up the info for Convergence, but keep an eye out for it. Back in 2014, before I moved out here, I attended the exhibits and vendors’ market at Convergence when it was held in Providence. Little did I know that I’d be a part of such a BIG EVENT so many years later. Or such a great organization. HGA promotes all fiber arts here in the US and abroad.

Sauder Village logo

Lastly, I’m finally going to make it to Sauder Village’s Rug Hooking Week this year. WOOHOO! As a judge for this year’s Celebration contest, I was invited. I even get to put a rug in the Celebrations exhibit. How cool is that? Also very exciting: Because I hooked New Mexico’s cushion for the USA50 project, I have a piece in that exhibit too! I only wish that Ruth Simpson could attend with me. I did the easy part – hooking – while she had to put the whole thing together! Read about it HERE. So if you’re going to be there, I hope we can meet up. I’ve no plans other than soaking it all up and taking lots of pics. Let me know!

 

So, it’s been a busy summer so far. If you’re going to be in the New Mexico area, okay, a really BIG area, give a yell. High on Hooking will be at at Las Golondrinas in Santa Fe again the first weekend of August for the Beer and Food Festival. Stop by to say hello and pick up a gift for family, friends, or yourself. In the meantime, stay cool!

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Why aren’t we all wearing an orange shirt today?

 

Logo for Orange Shirt DayI’m wearing an orange shirt today, but only because I have so many Canadian friends on social media. If I didn’t, I’d be clueless to the fact that September 30 is Orange Shirt Day up north. Its other name is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, but again, it’s only “celebrated” in Canada. My question is why don’t we have that or something similar here in the US?

For those of you who don’t have a plethora of Canadian fiber arts friends, you can read about the day and its origins HERE.

Each year, September 30 marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

The day honours the children who never returned home and Survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities. Public commemoration of the tragic and painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process.
-From the website canada.ca

I get that I live somewhere – New Mexico – that allows me the chance to be aware of our indigenous populations pretty much every day. That “s” making “populations” plural is not an error. Not much more than a mile from my house in Albuquerque, across the Rio Grande, is the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center (IPCC). There visitors can take in the museum, buy jewelry and pottery, watch Native dances, eat really kick-ass food, and do a host of other things that help to educate those of us who grew up without learning much of America’s early history. You know, before the British, French, Spanish, and other European nations came on the scene and decided the land was ripe for the taking and “clearly” not owned by anyone. At least anyone “civilized.”

The IPCC is run and owned by nineteen New Mexico Pueblo communities. Nineteen. And they’re all sovereign nations. And they don’t include the likes of the Apache and Navajo and others who also abide, at least in part, in New Mexico. My point today is that all nineteen came together to create the IPCC on this particular piece of land:

It is located at the heart of nearly 80 acres of land owned by the 19 Pueblos and governed by the 19 Pueblos District (a sovereign government formed by the Tribal Councils of the 19 New Mexico Pueblo Communities) at the former location of the Albuquerque Indian School (1881-1982)
-From the IPPC website

Again, I ask, why aren’t we here in the US wearing orange today in a spirit of solidarity and reconciliation? The same atrocities that happened up in Canda’s schools happened here. And we had more schools!

Last year I wrote about a rug hooking project that was a collaboration between myself, friend and guildmate Ruth Simpson, and Acoma Pueblo artist Patricia Lowden. You can read about it HERE. You can also read about the cushion and our collaboration with Patricia in the current issue of Rug Hooking Magazine (RHM). Unfortunately, I was prompted to write the article after I read another RHM article in which an artist/author indicated that indigenous art is ripe (word used on purpose) for using in rug hooking patterns because: The images of art from indigenous peoples are always ancient, copyright free, and so beautiful. Yes, that is a direct quote, and it went right up my ass sideways. (Pardon my French.)

And people think cultural appropriation isn’t a real thing. How can you if you think all the Natives are dead?

Again, I ask, why aren’t we here in the US wearing orange today along with the Canadians?

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New Mexico’s contribution to the USA50 project

So, maybe a year and a half or two ago, I offered to hook New Mexico’s contribution to the USA50 project. I finally started to hook it in April. As many worthwhile endeavors do, it took longer than expected.

USA50 Poster
USA50 poster courtesy of https://remileves.myportfolio.com/usa50.

For those not familiar with the USA50 project, it originated with another big, creative venture, the hooked cushion collection at the Barachois Historic Church in New Brunswick, Canada. The church,the old whitewashed building on New Brunswick Road 133, will be 200 years old in 2026. This small church is among the oldest Acadian buildings still standing on its original site.” In order to celebrate the anniversary…“the committee thought then that a collection of 50 hooked cushions [on the church benches] would probably be feasible and would certainly arouse the interest of the population.” (Quotes from https://remileves.myportfolio.com/bonjourwelcome.)

The Barachois Historic Church is an ancient wooden building, which first opened its doors in 1826, and is still standing after nearly 200 years. The building was disaffected in the late 1970s, and reprieved from demolition in 1980. It has since been transformed into a local Museum, art gallery and summer classical concert venue. For over 40 years a wide variety of cultural events have been presented there. In order to be more comfortable on the old wooden pews, many event goers took too bringing a cushion to cultural presentations, and leaving it on the bench. Over time, this developed into a sort of tradition. This has inspired the Historic Church Preservation Committee. The “200 hooked cushions for my 200th” public art collection became the first permanent collection of the visual arts in the historic church. We cordially invite you to be part of the “USA50” collection to seal indefinitely our countries friendship and give the two collections the international destination status it deserves.
(From the USA50 Facebook page.)

 

Poster for initial cushio project
Poster for the Barachois Church’s 200th Anniversary and hooked cushions exhibit opening.
This [initial 200 cushions] collection, like others across America, proudly celebrates the volunteer work of artists in hooking. The project lives up to their community spirit and helping others, their creativity, their energy to work towards a common goal to meet the challenge. These artists, mostly women, gave in order to realize our dream. What is even more fascinating is that for many, our dream has become theirs too. Everyone had a reason to embark. That’s what created magic. Many artists pay tribute to their ancestors, a family member, Acadian friends, a colleague hooker, history, the art of hooking or just the cause.

 

The official opening of the cushion exhibit was on August 18, 2019. Over 1000 people came to view the cushions that day. American hookers were in attendance. They suggested the USA50 project, one cushion from each state.

One cushion per state representing memorabilia, landscape, bird, flower, or other representation particular to that state. Already rug hookers from all over the United-States have shown interest…
(From the USA50 Facebook page.)

Hence my participation in the project. But, while a Hatch chile pepper or a hot air balloon would’ve been good representations for New Mexico, I preferred something more authentic. Something, perhaps, Native American as they were here long before the Spanish showed up in the 1500s.

A few years ago, during a visit to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center here in Albuquerque, I purchased a travel mug with artwork by potter Patricia Lowden, a member of the Acoma Pueblo about 40 miles west of the city. I use the mug all the time and thought that a design like hers might best represent New Mexico. Long story short, I was able to contact Patricia through the Cultural Center. After explaining the project and how I would NOT monetarily benefit from the cushion, she generously offered not to let me use the mug design but to send me a similar design! That made my life a LOT easier.

"Rainbird" travel mug; design by Patricia lowden.
“Rainbird” travel mug; design by Patricia Lowden. They’re ceramic now. You can find it HERE.

I hooked it using different wool yarns. Ruth Simpson, friend and fellow member of the Adobe Wool Arts Guild, graciously put the whole thing together.

A little about Patricia:

I am full Acoma. My great grandmother is Lupe Chavez who lived to be 105 yo. She was a potter, piki maker. Both my grandmother’s on my mom and dad’s side were potters as well. …My mother was Anita Lowden. She was a famous potter in the Indian market and won a lot of blue ribbons for her work. She made pots, animals and pitchers. She and grandmother Jesse have pottery in the Smithsonian. My oldest sister and I do the pottery making now. We learned from our grandma Andrea as we grew up closer to this side of the family. I am a 4th generation potter. I use the coil method to build my pottery. I grind my clay after soaking it. There are several steps to making and painting the pottery. I use a yucca brush to outline n paint my pieces. I make water jars, seed pots, canteens, vases, and wedding vases. I make various sizes. When people order they usually tell me how much they want to spend or I make a variety if they want more than one piece. I use traditional paints. I have been painting and making since I was 15 yo when my grandmother asked if I would outline for her, but I played with the clay when I was younger like 8 when my grandmother asked if I would like to make something to sell as she was getting ready for a feast to sell her pottery. I helped my grandmother as she was getting older and couldn’t see very well but she could still make pottery. My grandmother always encouraged me to try new designs… I love what I do and now I have a 14 year old daughter, Destiny, who I am teaching. She has made a few pieces and has sold them on her own. I am very proud of her because she will carry on my designs and the old style of making pottery. 

New Mexico USA%) cushion. Design by Patricia lowden.
“Rainbird,” New Mexico’s contribution to the USA50 project. All wool yarn on monk’s cloth. Design by Patricia Lowden. Hooked by Laura Salamy. All put together by Ruth Simpson. Thank you ladies!

 

 

Patricia has seen the cushion and told me that she and her family really love how it turned out. I’m hoping to hook up a smaller version for her to hang in her home.

 

 

 

 

Make sure you go onto Remi’s site and the Facebook page to see pics of the various cushions created for both projects. There are still a few states that are unaccounted for. As of May, they included: Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Utah. Do you live in or are you from one of these? Perhaps you can help finish up the USA50 Collection. Contact Remi Levesque through his website or the Facebook page.

 

Note: Please respect Patricia’s traditional design. Do not copy.

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