GOLDENDALE, Wash., June 28, 2022) — Explore fiber art in all its fabulous forms at Maryhill Museum of Art’s Festival of Fiber Arts on Saturday, August 6 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Festival of Fiber Arts is the culminating event of the community-based art project, The Exquisite Gorge Project II: Fiber Arts.
The free, family-friendly event will include live sheep shearing demonstrations with M & P Ranch of Goldendale, Washington at 10:30 a.m., followed by a day of hands-on fiber art activities and artist-led demonstrations.
Hands-on activities will include quilting, felting, weaving, carding, spinning and more. There will also be a fiber stash exchange where visitors are invited to bring and share yarn extras or take home a stash.
Visitors can also meet some of the 13 regional fiber artists who created the collaborative fiber-based artwork that is the centerpiece of The Exquisite Gorge Project II: Fiber Arts. The participating artists will be on hand that day as they assemble a 70-foot flowing sculpture of fiber arts, created in collaboration with community partners along the Columbia River. (The various segments will be on view in communities along the Columbia during the month of July. Click here for a map with dates/times that the segments can be viewed.)
ABOUT THE EXQUISITE GORGE PROJECT:
Drawing inspiration from the people, the landscape and the river, 13 artists designed original fiber-based artwork in collaboration with the local community and a designated community partners along 220 miles of the Columbia River from the Willamette Confluence in Portland to the Snake River Confluence near Walla Walla, Washington. The finished works will connect to adjacent sections to create a large, 70-foot flowing sculpture with the Columbia River as a central element.
The Exquisite Gorge Project was inspired by the Surrealist parlor game “Exquisite Corpse,” where participants take turns drawing sections of a body on a piece of paper folded to hide each successive contribution. In the case of the The Exquisite Gorge Project, the Columbia River is the “body” that unifies the collaboration between artists and communities.
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
Louise Palermo, Maryhill’s Curator of Education is the Project Director. Oregon-based artist Tammy Jo Wilson is Artistic Director. Participating artists are: Francisco and Laura Bautista, Lynn Deal, Ophir El-Boher, Carolyn Hazel Drake, Xander Griffith, Chloë Hight, Kristy Kún, Magda Nica, Owen Premore, Bonnie Meltzer, and Amanda Triplett. The participating artists work in a variety of textile and fiber-based media, from weaving, basketry, and repurposed textiles to quilt making, jewelry and felt making.
COMMUNITY PARTNERS & SPONSORS
In addition to the participating artists, there are many partner organizations and sponsors who have made The Exquisite Gorge Project II possible. The following partners and artists are paired on each section of the river.
Section One: Oregon Society of Artists–Artist: Lynn Deal
Section Two: Lewis and Clark Collge–Artist: Amanda Triplett
Section Three: Columbia Center for the Arts, The History Museum of Hood River County and Arts in Education of the Gorge–Artist: Chloë Hight
Section Four: White Salmon Arts Council and Fort Vancouver Regional Library–Artist: Xander Griffith
Section Five: Columbia Gorge Discovery Center, The Dalles-Wasco County Library and The Dalles Arts Center –Artists: Francisco and Laura Bautista
Section Six: The Fort Vancouver Regional Library at Goldendale Community Library–Artist: Carolyn Hazel Drake
Section Seven: The American-Romanian Cultural Society and Maryhill Museum of Art–Artist: Magda Nica
Section Eight: Desert Fiber Arts & REACH Museum–Artist: Ophir El-Boher
Section Nine: The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation–Artist: Bonnie Meltzer
Section Ten: ArtWalla–Artist: Kristy Kún
Frontispiece: Tammy Jo Wilson and Owen Premore
Click here for a map of installations during the month of July.
Major support was provided by: National Endowment for the Arts; Roundhouse Foundation; Umpqua Bank Charitable Foundation’s Community Grants; The Salvador Fund of the Gorge Community Foundation; Columbia Fiber Arts Guild; and Umpqua Bank, Goldendale Branch.
Donated services and goods: Anonymous, M & P Ranch, Northwest Regional Spinners Association, Premier Metal, Olympic Yarn and Fiber, and StoryGorge.
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ABOUT MARYHILL MUSEUM OF ART:
Housed in a glorious Beaux Arts mansion on 5,300 acres high above the Columbia River, Maryhill Museum of Art opened to the public May 13, 1940 and today remains one of the Pacific Northwest’s most enchanting cultural destinations. The museum was founded by Northwest entrepreneur and visionary Sam Hill, who purchased the property and began building the house with dreams of establishing a Quaker farming community. When that goal proved untenable, Hill was encouraged by friends Loie Fuller, Queen Marie of Romania, and Alma de Bretteville Spreckles to establish a museum.
Maryhill Museum of Art boasts a renowned permanent collection, rotating exhibitions of the highest caliber, and dynamic educational programs that provide opportunities for further exploration by visitors of all ages. On view are more than 80 works by Auguste Rodin, European and American paintings, objects d’art from the palaces of the Queen of Romania, Orthodox icons, unique chess sets, and the renowned Théâtre de la Mode, featuring small-scale mannequins attired in designer fashions of post-World War II France. Baskets of the indigenous people of North America were a collecting interest of Hill; today the museum’s American Indian collection represents nearly every tradition and style in North America, with works of art from prehistoric through contemporary.
Maryhill’s William and Catherine Dickson Sculpture Park features more than a dozen large-scale works by Northwest artists. The Maryhill Overlook is a site-specific sculpture by noted Portland architect Brad Cloepfil; nearby are Lewis and Clark interpretive panels. Four miles east of Maryhill is a life-sized replica of Stonehenge, Stonehenge Memorial, which Sam Hill built to memorialize local men who perished in World War I. Stonehenge Memorial was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2021. Nearby, the Klickitat County War Memorial honors those who have died in the service of their country since World War I.
The museum was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. In 2001 the museum was listed as an official site of the National Historic Lewis and Clark Trail and in 2002 was accredited by the American Association of Museums. In 2012 the museum opened the Mary and Bruce Stevenson Wing, a 25,500 square foot expansion that is the first in the museum’s history. The new wing boasts the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust Education Center, a collections storage and research suite, a new cafe and terrace, and the Cannon Power Plaza with an installation of sculpture, and sweeping views of the Columbia River Gorge and Mount Hood in the distance.
MUSEUM HOURS:
Maryhill Museum of Art is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., March 15 through November 15. The Gardens & Grounds are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily between March 15 – November 15 at no charge. Admission to the Stonehenge Memorial is free; it is open from dawn to dusk daily year-round.
TICKETS / ADMISSION RATES:
Tickets may be purchased in advance at maryhillmuseum.org. Admission is $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, $9 for college students with I.D., $5 for youth age 7-18 and free for children 6 and under. Maryhill participates in Museums for All, with admission set at $2 per person with an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card and a valid form of photo ID. Rate is valid for up to four individuals per EBT card.
MUSEUM AMENITIES:
The Museum Store features art and history books, jewelry and other mementos. The museum’s cafe, Loie’s, is not open currently due to staffing shortages. Picnic tables are available on the museum grounds.
DIRECTIONS:
Maryhill Museum of Art overlooks the Columbia River on Washington’s SR 14, just west of US 97, 12 miles south of Goldendale, Washington; it is a scenic 45 minute drive from Hood River, Oregon and 30 minutes from The Dalles, Oregon. Drive times are 2 hours from Portland/Vancouver, 3.5 hours from Bend, 4 hours from Seattle, and 1.5 hours from Yakima. For further information, visit maryhillmuseum.org.