Northern Colorado Weavers Guild: Celebrating 50 Years

Loveland Museum

503 N. Lincoln Avenue, Loveland, CO 80537

December 8, 2023–March 31, 2024

Admission: free

Review by Danielle Cunningham

With fifty years in operation as one of only a few Colorado non-profits dedicated exclusively to weaving, the Northern Colorado Weavers Guild’s (NCWG) mission of sharing knowledge is apparent in their exhibition Celebrating 50 Years, currently on view at the Loveland Museum.

An installation view of the Northern Colorado Weavers Guild’s exhibition *Celebrating 50 Years* at the Loveland Museum. Image by *DARIA*.

Members display their considerable skills while demonstrating an array of traditional techniques and objects, from clothing and stuffed animals to contemporary wall hangings. NCWG further extends its educational mission by displaying the tools of its trade, including a drum carder that prepares fiber for spinning, a spinning wheel used to prepare fiber for weaving, a loom on which fiber is woven, and many other objects.

Becky Irons, *Sheep to Shawl*. Image by *DARIA*.

Some weavers in the NCWG favor alpaca fleece, though most use hand-dyed sheep’s wool, presumably because sheep are abundant in Colorado and several guild members are shepherds. The prevalence of sheep’s wool is illustrated best with the inclusion of a “sheep to shawl” contest entry by Becky Irons. Sheep to shawl is a traditional occurrence at fiber festivals in which a team of five weavers clean, prepare, and spin sheep’s wool used to create a shawl in a five-hour period. [1] Irons’s shawl was created during the 2022 Estes Park Wool Market and uses wool from member and shepherd Lorraine Perry’s flock.

Weaving tools and yarn in one of the display cases in the Northern Colorado Weavers Guild’s exhibition *Celebrating 50 Years*. Image by *DARIA*.

Although the exhibition focuses on weaving, it also highlights other fiber arts techniques practiced and taught by NCWG members, with a sizable portion devoted to felting. A fiber art form pre-dating weaving, felting is a near-global process that involves pressing and pounding hair from a variety of domestic animals. Makers use it in clothing and other goods. [2]

Kristi Bott, *Felted Rabbit and Sheep*, felted sheep’s wool. Image by *DARIA*.

Margaret Tullis, *Nuno Felted Jacket*. Image by *DARIA*.

For this exhibition, Kristi Bott felted miniature animals, one of which is a sheep ironically made from sheep’s wool. Margaret Tullis’ Nuno felted jacket illustrates a contemporary take on traditional felting with her artistic dying of the material and the garment’s flowing, asymmetrical design. Nuno felting is a composite of traditional and modern practices, as it involves felting wool onto another material. [3] Both Bott and Tullis’ objects reveal how fiber art uniquely spans time, resulting in a creative formula that is simultaneously traditional and modern; novel and functional.

Al Canner, *Spiraling Under Control*, knotted macramé cords of cotton and jute and found objects. Image by *DARIA*.

Executing this idea three-dimensionally, Al Canner’s Spiraling Under Control is aesthetically contemporary while borrowing from traditional techniques and materials. Canner practices macramé, which involves knotting cords into various shapes or decorations. In this work, Canner has attached springs, cords, and other coiled objects to the surface of a sculptural object that resembles a vessel or knapsack.

Beth Fox, *Wall Hanging*, cotton weave, beading, and driftwood. Image by *DARIA*.

Like Canner, Beth Fox’s Wall Hanging is contemporary and sculptural, featuring woven cotton draped behind a large piece of scavenged driftwood. The work hearkens to water with its ocean blue palette, while a beaded necklace extrudes from the middle of the driftwood. Beaded fringe completes the work’s symmetry, hanging from both sides.

The display of shawls in the Northern Colorado Weavers Guild’s exhibition *Celebrating 50 Years*. Image by *DARIA*.

Because weaving and other fiber art practices have historically involved copying rather than inventing patterns, it is easy to assume that those working in these traditions refrain from projecting their identities onto their work. Upon closer inspection, though, this assumption is obviously untrue—identity is reflected in a number of ways. For instance, this exhibition devotes a wall almost entirely to scarves, shawls, and wraps, indicating that this group of artists is drawn to creating these garments both from patterns and their own designs.

Elisabeth Quick, *Navajo Country*. Image by *DARIA*.

Narrow and wide; some with fringe, gradients, or thick bands of color; made from silk, lace, or wool; and others trimmed with beading, each of these decorative objects references the weavers’ preferences and, accordingly, facets of who they are. Elizabeth Quick’s wall hanging, Navajo Country, reinforces this idea with its portrayal of indigenous storytelling, symbols, and identity, suggesting that fiber arts connect across time and cultures.

Gunnel Oresjo, *Samples*. Image by *DARIA*.

Artistic identity is also reinforced by the exhibition’s inclusion of samples, sometimes called samplers in embroidery circles. Typically used to demonstrate an artist’s knowledge of patterns or as a means of recording designs for future use, samples are an important part of fiber art history. Gunnel Oresjo’s vertical trio of framed rugs, aptly titled Samples, exemplifies this important historical practice and its continued relevance today.

One of the display cases in the Northern Colorado Weavers Guild’s exhibition *Celebrating 50 Years*. Image by *DARIA*.

Despite the breadth and abundance of technical skill, creative power, and educational opportunities offered by this exhibition, the educational component of the exhibition would have been even more powerful if there had been descriptions of the many techniques, tools, and materials used. Though there are many terms identifying patterns and processes that may be familiar to the fiber arts community, it is unlikely that the same is true for those outside of it.

A view of the Northern Colorado Weavers Guild’s exhibition *Celebrating 50 Years*. Image by *DARIA*.

Also, though there are many fascinating pieces of equipment throughout the gallery, their purposes aren’t consistently or adequately explained, leaving non-weavers wondering about or Googling their purposes. Nonetheless, the exhibition contains enough visual stimulation to entice viewers into seeking out these details on their own or perhaps even enticing them to join the Guild, where they can learn firsthand.

Danielle Cunningham (she/her) is an artist, scholar, and independent curator. She writes about science fiction, gender, sexuality, and disability, with an emphasis on mental illness. The co-founder of chant cooperative, an artist co-op, she holds a master’s degree in art history and museum studies from the University of Denver.

[1] From the exhibition text.

[2] Berthold Laufer, American Anthropologist, vol. 30, no. 1, “The Early History of Felt,” January-March, 1930.

[3] “Felt and Feltmaking History,” History of Clothing, www.historyofclothing.com/textile-history/felt-and-feltmaking-history/.