Americans for the Arts Arts Action Alert

Arts Action Alert - Take Action Now!

Great news!

On Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a $15 million increase for both the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for FY 2010. Currently funded at $155 million, this increase would bring both agencies' budgets to $170 million. Please take two minutes to write to your Senators and urge them to support this important funding increase!

Thanks to the arts leadership of House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Norm Dicks (D-WA) and Congressional Arts Caucus co-chair Louise Slaughter (D-NY), this House-approved funding increase for the NEA exceeds President Obama's budget request by $8.7 million and is the highest proposed appropriation for the NEA since its $176 million peak in FY 1992. On June 25, corresponding legislation in the Senate Appropriations Committee set NEA and NEH funding at only $161.3 million each.

Next Steps:
We must now put pressure on the Senate to match the funding level set in the House of Representatives. Please take two minutes to visit Americans for the Arts E-Advocacy Center to send a letter to your Senators:
http://capwiz.com/artsusa/issues/alert/?alertid=13627991

Complete Textile Glossary

Complete Textile Glossary - This free 211 page online book is a pdf file that is downloadable and printable. Compiled by Celanese Acetate LLC, this is the fifth edition and is an incredibly detailed resource with over 2,000 entries and is an illustrated dictionary of fiber and textile technology that includes coverage of advanced materials-composites, aerospace textiles, geotextiles, and new fiberforming polymers.
http://www.celaneseacetate.com/textile_glossary_filament_acetate.pdf

Textile Sculpture - Part 5: Ruth Asawa, Karen Searle, Sarah Hewitt, Olga de Amaral

More stunning work by fiber artists exploring different disciplines

RUTH ASAWA

Ruth Asawa - Ruth Asawa is renowned for her
wire and fiber sculptures. Explore all pages of her
website to learn about her creative process.
http://www.ruthasawa.com/

Oral History Interview – this is the transcript of
a 2002 interview that is archived at the Smithsonian
http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/oralhistories/transcripts/asawa02.htm

Ruth Asawa: A Life in Art – an article by Pam RuBert
posted to the Ragged Cloth Café blog
http://raggedclothcafe.com/2008/01/30/ruth-asawa-a-life-in-art-by-pam-rubert/

YouTube Video – 8 ½ minute video – Daniell Cornell,
Curator at the San Jose Museum of Art talks about Ruth
Asawa’s exhibit, “Contours in the Air”. It includes an
interview by phone with her oldest daughter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir5vq7FogSg

_____________________

KAREN SEARLE

Karen Searle – knits and crochets into 3-dimensional
form any malleable medium, from linen to wire to hog
gut to telephone cable. Her predominant interest is in
exploration of the feminine form
http://www.karensearle.com/Fiber_Works/gallery.aspx
http://www.mnartists.org/work.do?pageIndex=1&rid=166329
– click image for large close-up

_____________________

SARAH HEWITT

Sarah Hewitt – “I choose to sculpt using fibers – using a variety of materials from jute twine from the hardware store to bark peeled fresh from a tree, and cloth purposed for commercial fishing. To build an object I use a variety of textile techniques – stitching, knitting, crochet, coiling, weaving – any form of joinery. My forms develop from the materials’ strengths and weakness. They border on the yonic and womb-like, referencing nests, bindings, and scarification.”
http://www.sarahhewitt.com/gallery.php?port=2

In her blog, Sarah goes into detail about her artistic and creative thought process as well as in-depth info about “The Love Armor” project
http://sarahhewitt.com/blog/
_____________________________

OLGA DE AMARAL

Olga de Amaral is a Columbian Textile Artist
whose works often “…take the form of large
tapestries covered with gold or silver leaf…” [and]
“…is one of the textile artists who, in the 1960s,
first turned textile arts from a primarily two-
dimensional representational art form into a
three-dimensional, abstract art form.”
http://www.omahapubliclibrary.org/events/gallery/ml-textile-sculpture-alt.html

The Sun Queen – this is an in-depth 3-page
article about Olga de Amaral in TREND
(art+design+architecture) magazine – wonderful
pictures
http://www.bellasartesgallery.com/artistsstudio1.html

Landscapes of Imagination – gives details
and images of an installation of her tapestries
http://www.bellasartesgallery.com/amaral.html

More Images – click on images for close-up views
http://www.artincontext.org/artist/artist_images.aspx?id=3368
http://www.artnet.fr/Galleries/Artists_detail.asp?G=&gid=138&which=&aid=1443&ViewArtistBy=online&rta=http://www.artnet.fr

Textile Related Postage Stamps

Embroidery for postage stamps brings national RSA [Royal Society of encouragement of the Arts] award
http://www.hud.ac.uk/news/05_07/textiles/crafts/rsa_michelle.htm

Textiles has been a popular theme for postage stamps throughout the world. Here are a few of them, arranged by country.
http://www.allfiberarts.com/library/aa00/aa100200.htm

Gallery of Stamps with a Textile Theme
http://www.paivatar.com/AFA/library/aa00/aa100200.htm

Russian Stamps: Turkmen Picking Cotton
http://www.stamprussia.com/681b.jpg

Sewing Equipment for Army
http://www.stamprussia.com/841b.jpg

Textile Mill
http://www.stamprussia.com/1366b.jpg

Lace Maker
http://www.stamprussia.com/1994b.jpg

Israel
http://www.flickr.com/photos/karenhorton/3265285796/

Lace
http://lace.lacefairy.com/Lace/LaceStamps/LaceStamps.htm
http://www.caratexstamps.com/04_GALLERY/06_NonLoom/lace1.html
http://www.annmcclean.co.uk/LaceStamps/stamps.html

Embroidery
http://www.caratexstamps.com/04_GALLERY/08_EmbdSew/embroidery.html

Sewing
http://www.caratexstamps.com/04_GALLERY/08_EmbdSew/sewing.html

Bayeux Tapestry
http://www.caratexstamps.com/04_GALLERY/08_EmbdSew/bayeux.html

Carpets
http://www.caratexstamps.com/04_GALLERY/05_Woven/carpet.html

Spinning Wheels
http://www.caratexstamps.com/04_GALLERY/03_Spinning/spgwheel.html

Hand Looms
http://www.caratexstamps.com/04_GALLERY/04_Weaving/handlooms.html

Gee's Bend Quilt Stamps
http://www.usps.com/communications/news/stamps/2006/sr06_042.htm

Amish Quilt Stamps
http://www.usps.com/news/2001/philatelic/sr01_050.htm

Art of the American Indian Stamps
http://www.usps.com/communications/news/stamps/2004/sr04_053.htm

Knitting on Stamps
http://papercrave.com/2007-holiday-postage-stamps/

A Postage Stamp Commemorates Isfahan as the 'City of Polish Children' - "The stamp commemorates two things: a huge tragedy in Poland's history, and how Iran helped rescue some of the victims. But to understand the whole story – which today is largely forgotten outside Poland – one must go back to the very start of World War II.
http://tea-and-carpets.blogspot.com/2008/09/postage-stamp-commemorates-isfahan-as.html