Archie Brennan and Susan Martin Maffei, along with members of the Wednesday Group, will have about 30 tapestries on view at the gallery exhibition at Garner Arts Festival during the newly re-established annual textile festival at Garner Arts Center in Garnerville, NY.  Also on display will be works by the Textile Study Group of New York and studio artists at the Arts Center.

This historic site was once a very profitable mill for dyeing and printing calico fabric along with other wool, cotton and linen fabrics.  At the height of its production it employed thousands of workers in 30 buildings on the site, and was traded on the NYSE.  It is now on the New York State Register of Historic Places under “Rockland Printworks.”

For more information about the history of the mill see the timeline  on their website.

Here are a few images from the exhibition.

The exhibit was only ‘up’ for a week, but it was a lovely show of works. I’ve chosen to focus on Archie’s works here since this is about him.

Yesterday I stumbled on Elizabeth Buckley’s blog through a post on Facebook.  She has written a thoughtful piece about the current tapestry exhibit at the Hunterdon Museum of Art, where she describes how much work has gone into this gathering of tapestries from so many respected artists.  You can read it here.   This photo is from the opening reception when Archie and Elizabeth were discussing her piece “Dialogues through the Veil.”   Photo credit: Lisa Heilman Lomauro

Carol Russell curated this show, inviting 40 tapestry artists from 9 countries to participate.  She worked with Schiffer Books to create a beautiful catalogue for the show, published as a hardback book. While I’ve been away this winter my mail has been forwarded to my son’s house, and that book is waiting for me there.  It’s a five-hour drive to his house, but it will be at the top of my to-do list when I return home.  I can’t wait to see this book!

And, of course, the show itself.  I’ll be headed there in early May, right before it closes on May 10th.  If you haven’t seen it, there is still time!  If you cannot get there at least you can order this beautiful catalog.