Stories Are Made Loop by Loop

“Stories Are Made Loop by Loop” exhibit cover.

TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY SUSAN FELLER

The traditional craft we all enjoy needs to be shared with a wider audience. How can that be done? Consider submitting your work to mixed-media art shows, pitching an exhibit to a regional museum, or curating a collection and finding a space to hang it. This article will walk you through the experiences I had with a traveling show called “Stories Are Made Loop by Loop” and the preparation that comes with self-promotion.

The Idea

I first saw Cheryl Bollenbach’s Urban Icons and Terri Todd’s Spiraling at Sauder Village during Rug Hooking Week in 2021. Those works were admired and studied by fellow makers along with the other Celebration finalists. People stopped as the pieces came into view, reacting to the stories they portrayed. They came close and studied the mixed techniques and materials Cheryl used and the way Terri’s directional hooking in white echoes her character’s shape and emphasizes the emotion. I saw messaging that demanded to be shared with audiences who may identify with the stories of the unhoused, addicted, and depressed. Those two works formed the beginning of my quest to curate an exhibit for audiences beyond the rug-hooking community.

However, two rugs are not enough for a show. I invited people who were making art about personal experiences to join in, looking for a variety of styles, stories, ages, and locations. The artists’ work speaks to the therapeutic benefits of slowing down to create for both the artist and viewer. Over the span of the tour, nine artists were included in the collection. Canadians Karen D. Miller and Meryl Cook; US artists Cheryl Bollenbach, Elizabeth Miller, Domenica Zara Queen, Laura Salamy, Grue Shackelford, and Terri Todd; and dual citizen Mary B. Lopez de Morales.

Finding Venues

In early 2022, a connection I had with a writer and curator provided the first venue. Trudi van Dyke was on the exhibit committee for the Virginia Quilt Museum and had reviewed my work in a regional show. The museum was looking for a non-quilt exhibit for the 2023 calendar. I pitched images of the work, short bios of six of the artists, and a description of the tools and materials used. In the proposal was an offer to provide an interactive display including a hooking frame, pattern, tools, materials, and directions inviting visitors to hook a welcome mat. The mat would be completed by me and donated back to the museum.

Once the show was on the calendar for July through October 2023, I reached out to the Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center in Pennsburg, Pennsylvania, to see if it could be another venue. I had worked with Candace Perry, the curator, over several years, creating exhibits with hooked rugs themed to their collection. Pennsburg is near Philadelphia and within driving distance of many rug-hooking groups who would enjoy the show. Candace accepted the exhibit, but not until fall of 2024.

I decided to see if I could find museums with openings earlier in that year. Two were ones that I had worked with in the past in the region. Each fall, the Dairy Barn Arts Center in Athens, Ohio, puts out a call for exhibits. I had been juried into a couple of shows in the main gallery. Their audience knows fiber art well. The Clay Center in Charleston, West Virginia, has a metropolitan audience aware of the urban issues addressed by the artists. The museum director was familiar with my advocacy for Appalachian artists and my work. She encouraged the exhibit committee to accept the show. It helped that members also knew me. Both pitches were accepted and scheduled back to back. The networking over many years paid off.

Getting Ready

In preparation for the first show, I selected works based on the space and asked for artist statements about the pieces and artist bios, including social media handles and website URLs. The artists also provided the pieces’ retail value and whether they were for sale or not. Each artist shipped their work to me, and I agreed to pay for return shipping after the Schwenkfelder show. Logistics
to get Canadian pieces across the border were worked out. One piece was loaned through an organization, which I promoted in the catalog and on social media. I held the liability of loss while the works were in my possession but made sure each venue had its own insurance during the length of the show.

Logistics to consider before launching your own fiber-art show include…

• What kind of security does the venue offer? Require that the site provides insurance for loss or damage. This usually covers about 70 percent of the retail value.
• How will the show be mapped out? Ask for a schematic of the gallery space for preplanning.
• Will the curator hang the works with or without your assistance? What are the hanging-system requirements? It is best for hanging rugs to have a sleeve at the top for a rod with screw eyes on the ends. Having framed works ready to hang with a wire and D rings—not screw eyes—allows flexibility for most systems.
• What expenses will the venue/curator incur? Since the four venues for my show were fewer than 300 miles from my home, I decided to transport the rugs myself. A workshop and/or lecture was scheduled during three of the shows; this offset the venue’s marketing expenses as well as any payment to me or other presenters.

The Clay Center receives assistance from several regional and national organizations. In its exhibit contract, I was offered a curator’s fee, which helped with travel costs. Its marketing included digital signage featuring the show day and night, a newsletter, a reception, and unique labeling that I was able to reuse for the Schwenkfelder exhibit. I then gave each artist their labels when their work was returned. The Dairy Barn combines exhibits in one reception, as did the Virginia Quilt Museum.

Another way to raise funds is to search for grants from local or national groups. We applied for and successfully received a grant from Fiber Art Now supporting the demonstration project of making the community welcome mat at the Clay Center. Funding for an art-therapy workshop at a rehabilitation center was also acquired.

In the cyberspace world, opportunities to share abound. I strongly believe in documenting the process of creating art and curating exhibits for future research and to inform as wide an audience as possible. This show has hybrid options for viewing, with artist interviews and walkthrough videos on YouTube on my page, @susanfeller5093, and a digital catalog housed at issuu.com/susanfeller. A printed version of the catalog is for sale through my website, susanfeller.com.

Some lessons I learned by arranging a traveling exhibit:

• YOU write the press releases and labels. Remember, you’re describing rug hooking to an audience with no knowledge of our terminology.
• Exhibit contracts differ based on the amount of funding at each venue.
• Documentation matters! Learn how to conduct and record interviews and then upload them to YouTube. Create a digital catalog. In the case of the catalog, the drawback to using Issuu is the annual fee. Consider making your catalog a PDF that can be linked on a website.

I hope that you take what I’ve learned and get inspired to curate your own rug show. If you do, be sure to document your process, tools, and finished works. Let’s spread the word about rug hooking beyond our community!