ARTICLE
(Falmouth, Massachusetts – August 23, 2018) Tapestry in New England & Beyond, on view September 9 through October 31 at Highfield Hall & Gardens, is a comprehensive and poignant exhibition featuring the work of more than 45 renowned contemporary tapestry artists. The exhibition marks the second collaboration with The Fiber Art Network/Fiber Art Now and includes work by artists associated with Tapestry Weavers in New England (TWINE), as well as selected works from artists across the country and Canada. Curated by Marcia Young, editor in chief of Fiber Art Now, the exhibition showcases the remarkably wide range of style, subject, and vision evident in contemporary tapestry weaving today. Tackling the dichotomies, tensions, and contradictions of modern life, the exhibition addresses subjects such as the plight of refugees, nature and the environment, memory, body image, and the beauty of language. Each piece expresses an impactful moment or experience in the artist’s life. In executing their visions, the fiber artists orchestrate a dance between the warp—the linen or cotton thread substrate—and the weft—colored threads of wool or cotton slowly woven from the bottom up to create a rich image on a cloth surface. Each resulting canvas expresses the artist’s truth and depth of feeling in that moment, whether it is vibrant fiddlehead ferns carpeting a forest floor, in Tommye Scanlin’s Spring Profusion, or the ghostly image of a woman dislocated from her home and relocated in a new life, in Barbara Heller’s Sarah Rebecca. The exhibition embraces a diverse range of styles from the rich religious symbolism of Tamar Shadur’s Yizkor—Holocaust Memorial Tapestry, to the abstract geometries in Minna Rothman’s Innocence Lost. Tapestry in New England & Beyond will run concurrently with the exhibitions Stepping Inside the Outside, presented by the Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA), and Liberty and Justice, showcasing new work by Falmouth resident Salley Mavor, a fiber artist and award-winning book illustrator. An artist reception for all three exhibitions will take place Sunday, September 9, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. during the Fall Open House with free admission. About Highfield Hall & Gardens Highfield Hall & Gardens, the magnificent Victorian mansion with beautiful gardens located on Cape Cod, is a unique combination of historic home, expansive gardens and trails, and a vibrant cultural center. Built in 1878 as the summer home for Boston’s Beebe family, the mansion sits on 5.5 pristine acres surrounded by nearly 400 acres of conservation land and public walking trails. While there’s plenty of history within these glorious old walls, Highfield Hall & Gardens is not your typical historic estate. Highfield Hall offers world-class music, contemporary art exhibitions, family programs, and year-round special events. Expect the unexpected! Highfield Hall & Gardens is open April 15 through October 31, Tuesday – Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and weekends and holidays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission is $8 adults, $5 seniors, and free for members and children. In July and August, admission is free during Free Friday nights from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The gardens and grounds are open daily from dawn to dusk free of charge. Highfield Hall is wheelchair accessible and handicapped parking is available. For more information, visit highfield.org or call 508-495-1878, ext. 2.