Page 46 - Flathead Beacon // 8.31.16

EVENTS 48 MOVIE REVIEWS 49 SIDE DISH 52 FACES & PLACES 53 PAWS & CLAWS 56
Arts&Entertainment
The
Fabric of
Our Lives
Bigfork Art and Cultural Center exhibit showcases ber and fabric art, along with community-involved project
BY MOLLY PRIDDY
Bigfork Art and Cultural Center’s community crochet collaboration, “Wooly Garden: Many Hands, Many Lives, Many Hearts,” pictured on Aug. 26.
GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
BIGFORK – WHEN WE TALK about shared stories and cultures, it’s little coincidence that terms like “societal fabric” or “spin a yarn” come into play.
Ever since humans could harvest the raw materials needed, they have been using yarn and other fabrics to not only keep themselves alive – clothing, ropes, blankets, and baskets are very helpful – but also put their creative mark on the necessities they made.
Blankets became intricate hand-sewn quilts, sheer works of art in their scope and design. Groups of people – typically
women, but men in certain cultures also do this work – gathered together for nec- essary projects, like repairing ripped shing nets, and in doing so, cemented their communities that much closer.
This is the idea behind the latest exhibit at the Bigfork Art and Cultural Center, “Uncommon Threads: A Celebra- tion of the Fiber Arts.” Such pieces can be found in nearly every culture, interim Executive Director Valerie Homer said, and almost all generations.
“It does resonate on a very emotional level for people,” Homer said.
The exhibit, which opened on Aug.
24 and runs through Sept. 24, includes a variety of ber and fabric pieces, such as felted animal sculptures, woven tap- estries, mixed-media pieces on fabrics, and, of course, a new addition to the cen- ter lovingly called the Woolly Garden.
The Woolly Garden is a dynamic, com- munity art project made of crocheted or knitted pieces all attached together and presented as one. Anyone can contribute a piece, Homer said, whether they make it during one of the center’s Thursday knit- ting and crocheting sessions or at home.
A tourist from out of state wandered into the exhibit, saw the Garden, and
crocheted a piece quickly before she walked back out and left, Homer said, while other contributions have come from people as far away as New Jer- sey and Oklahoma. The county’s librar- ies have also held events with fabrics to support the installation, Homer said, so contributions have been owing in from around the valley as well.
“It’s made with many hands, many lives, and many hearts,” Homer said.
Leading the project are artists Jill Gotschalk, Sue Hanson, Robin Magad- dino, and Betty Violette. Homer said the initial Woolly Garden is small on
Furniture, Gifts & Decor Galore!
2699 Hwy 93 S. Kalispell • 756-8526
OOKING FOR UNIQUE VINTAGE FINDS?
CHECK OUT WHAT’S NEW AT SOUTHSIDE!
Vintage, rustic, contemporary western, traditional, Shabby chic and everything in-between.
L
46
AUGUST 31, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM