One of The Mint Museum of Craft + Design's current exhibitions is Sheila Hicks: 50 Years
http://www.sheilahicks.com. She gave a talk as part of the opening program, and I could have listened for hours more. During Q&A time, she was asked when her craft moved into the art world. "Oh, you think like an American." And went on to say that the greats of the art world painted portraits of people in their finest garb - textiles - and even the nudes were reclining on divans of the most sumptuous upholstery - more textiles. I wish I had told her how much I appreciated that comment. Instead, I made some inane comment about her Nebraska roots showing after all this time living in Mexico and Paris. "The frontier!" she responded as she signed my book.
To complement this textile exhibit, the Mint Uptown
http://www.mintmuseum.org increased the number of textiles in the gift shop. I had sent in samples because I thought that more handwoven items would reflect the role of textiles in North Carolina's history, economy, and identity. The timing must have been providential. The shop ordered ten scarves, shown below (the eight remaining - the yellow bamboo and one of the rayon boucles sold already).
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| Mint's textile offerings now |
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| my scarves: bamboo and rayon boucle |
A scarf shown with a lovely crafted coat.
