“Weaving the North” Exhibit (Part One)

The Scandinavian Weavers group has a long history of public exhibits. Some are collaborations between the Scan Weavers and community arts organizations and are open to all weavers, not just members of our group.

Our goal in community exhibits is to increase awareness of traditional and contemporary Scandinavian weaving and to offer opportunities for artists to exhibit their weaving, which is often under-represented in traditional art galleries and museums.

In this case, “Weaving the North” was juried, curated, and installed by the staff at North Suburban Center for the Arts (NSCA). North Suburban is located in a decommissioned fire station in Fridley, Minnesota. The organization has creatively transformed this industrial building into a charming gallery, shop, library, and classroom space where they hold community arts events year-round. The exhibit was open to the public free of charge. In addition to the exhibit, North Suburban hosted a panel discussion with several of the artists as well as weaving demonstrations and classes.

We were delighted when North Suburban approached us about collaborating on a weaving exhibit. Together, we chose the theme “Weaving the North” and invited weavers to imaginatively consider the idea of ‘North.’ We encouraged artists to draw inspiration from the northern landscape, seasons, plants, and weather; highlight weaving traditions of northern peoples; explore the emotions and images evoked by our specific region; and tell stories of the north and the people who make it their home.

The result was an amazing variety of weaving, detailed in the blog post below from North Suburban. In addition, I will post a second blog with photos and details of weavings by Scan Weavers.

Please consider supporting small, local arts organizations like North Suburban who do so much creative work in our communities. (Hint: Their fundraiser is this weekend.) We loved working with North Suburban and hope this is the first of many future collaborations!

Following a Thread: Weaving Exhibition Explores ‘the North’ — North Suburban Center for the Arts (northsuburbanarts.org)