Thread Heads: New Bay Area Fiber Art

Juried by Marion Coleman, Karen Hampton, and Tali Weinberg.

In the early 1970s, a craft revolution swept the country. It coincided with the burgeoning women’s movement, the gay rights movement, the back-to-land movement, and many other movements which were coalescing in the wake of the Vietnam War protests. Berkeley artists were at the center of this, and gave rise to groundbreaking work that challenged the traditional association of women with textiles in the domestic sphere.

During our 50th Anniversary year, BAC saw the opportunity to examine the current state of Bay Area fiber arts and pose the question: “What social and political circumstances are influencing the craft movement of the new millennium?” The following artists were selected from a pool of over 140 talented Bay Area fiber artists:

Alice Beasley
Lia Cook
Alexander Hernandez
Lily Homer
Karrie Hovey
Renee Owen
Laura Raboff
Ruth Tabancay
LaQuita Tummings
Ama Wertz
Alice Wiese
NIAD Art Center