knitting in public + a fiber exhibition + a community art project

Here in Des Moines we are so lucky to have The Des Moines Art Center, home to ever-changing exhibitions throughout the year and a fantastic permanent collection that includes pieces by Edward Hopper, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Henri Matisse, Claude Monet, Francis Bacon, Georgia O'Keeffe, Grant Wood, Roy Lichtenstein, Mark Rothko and so many more. Yes, we are pretty lucky. And the current exhibition on display is a fiber exhibit called Fiber: Sculpture 1960–present. Which, for a knitter, is pretty on point. Lotus and I had to check it out.

 

And not long ago, I mentioned a community fiber project that correlates with this exhibit – the Art Center is collecting hand-knit or crocheted swatches for a re-imagining of the iconic painting "From the Lake No. 1" by Georgia O’Keeffe. So Lotus and I signed up for the project and picked up our yarn. (I believe knitted submissions are due this Friday if you would like to jump in.) It's such a fun project for us to do together.

Last weekend the Art Center hosted a knitting circle, which was the perfect way to celebrate World Wide Knit in Public Day. We worked on our swatches for the community fiber project and I got to chat with some of my favorite knitting friends. Paul Kasal also gave a short talk on Georgia O'Keeffe and history of "From the Lake No. 1," which was quite fascinating. 

I'm naturally pretty excited to be part of this fiber experience and can't wait to see how this turns out. After what I imagine will be some very creative and interesting assembly sessions, the final piece will be unveiled on July 10th. Thank you, Des Moines Art Center friends, for bringing knitters together from all over our lovely city and making something big and beautiful out of all of our tiny handmade creations.

CALLING ALL NEEDLES: A Community Fiber Project

 "From the Lake No. 1" by Georgia O’Keeffe

If you're a knitter/crocheter/fiber artist in the Des Moines area, I'm sure you've heard about The Des Moines Art Center's re-imagining of the iconic painting "From the Lake No. 1" by Georgia O’Keeffe! I'm pretty excited about this and will definitely be participating. I lovingly remember studying Georgia's paintings in Art History class and I love this opportunity to help recreate her art in 3D! Piece by piece, the Art Center will be constructing a large-scale community-made tapestry to be displayed on the Richard Meier building of the Art Center. They hope to capture the tone, color, and character of this artwork by assembling hundreds of individual fiber submissions.

The Art Center is providing yarn for you to use if you wish, or you can work with your own synthetic yarn in the same color scheme/palette of the painting. How does this work? Using any technique you like, create a submission no larger than 12 x 12 inches. Submissions should be solid in color, but if you'd like to contribute color work, you may. Submissions are due on June 21st at the Art Center, and there will be a grand unveiling and contributor appreciation event on July 10th from 5–7:30 p.m. You can also join in the public knitting circles in the Art Center lobby! You can find more info here and join the Facebook event here. (Join in – this will be so much fun!)