As the warp of late-summer crisscrosses through the weft of early autumn, the Weavers Guild of Minnesota (founded in 1940 by six women) and now located in the Textile Center on University Avenue in Minneapolis, is bringing the most innovative of textile designers to the fore.
On Monday, September 10, Susie Taylor, the center’s 2018 Guest Teaching Artist, discusses the process and practice of her discipline, weaving origami. On the Weaving Workshop website, Taylor says “My method of weaving origami is unique, therefore the descriptive words that I use like ‘flaps,’ ‘loops’ or ‘discontinuous pleats’ are made up to describe the woven, structural elements that get folded into the origami shapes. I have never seen anyone weaving in this way …. Many people think this work is double cloth but in fact, it is a single layer cloth construction unlike other double-layered structures used to weave full-width pleats and other dimensional forms.”
During Taylor’s lunchtime talk (doors open at 11:30 a.m., program begins at noon), she’ll detail how she came to create her unique approach to weaving and take questions. Bring your lunch. Coffee is provided. Admission is $5-$15. Register here. After lunch, participants are invited to tour an exhibition of Taylor’s work at the Textile Center, titled Poetic Geometry. Later in the week, on Thursday, September 13, another exhibition opens at the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council in St. Paul. “Selections from the Weavers Guild of Minnesota” opens with a meet-the-artists reception from 4-6 p.m. From rugs to wall hangings, fashion to accessories, the work of 12 artists who draw their inspiration from global traditions will bring color, pattern, usability and aesthetic ingenuity to the art and craft of working with fiber.
