In 2020, the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park opened a call to artists living in the San Francisco Bay Area to submit two works for possible inclusion in a gigantic exhibit, hung floor to ceiling, called the "de Young Open." My work was not accepted, but some friends had theirs shown.
The museum decided to continue this premise every third year, which brings us to the de Young Open 2023, now. Out of 7,700 entries (and only one artwork this time), the curators chose 880. I nearly didn't enter, but my art quilt, "Would He Hide Me" was, to my surprise, accepted. At some point, the exhibit will go online. But for now, it opens to the public for a free Saturday (tickets still required) this Saturday, September 23, and a member's preview on Thursday, September 28, opening all the way on September 30 through January 2024. Info is posted at their website here.
Perhaps coincidentally, an article appeared in the
New York Times recently, "
Fiber Art Is Finally Being Taken Seriously," by Julia Halperin. When I shifted from book art to art quilts I was a little dubious about how my work would be received, but this was the way my art was going. I had no choice. I hope that the insulting connotations of quilts and other fiber arts do indeed fall away and that this is not another fad. Paintings on paper or canvas (tell me these are not fibers) are common, but no one blinks. Judging by popular magazines, sales, and organizations, the general public seems to love textiles; I hope the critics' perceptions are coming into alignment with the public perception.
I have another quilt traveling with a show of work by members of California Society of Printmakers and Studio Art Quilt Associates, "
Redacted." A small but complete catalogue of this beautiful show is now available from CSP/SAQA at
MagCloud here. My post about the show at Art Ark in San Jose is
here. The show is traveling and will be at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles sometime after spring 2024.
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On the writing front, seven of my short fictions are contained in a recent publication from Ravenna Press in their "triples" series. Three writers were chosen to be featured in one small book together. Added bonus is the Paul Klee painting on the cover of the June
Triple #22. A print copy only, it is available from Ravenna Press for 12.95 at the Triple link. Six out of the seven have been previously published in other magazines, and if you like you can read some of them and other stories and poems at my website
here.
And that's what's going on.
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