The Bascom's Atrium Series Pop-Up
This little blue collection will be on view beginning July 27th as part of The Bascom's Atrium Series Pop-Up in Highlands, North Carolina.
Atrium Series 3: July 27 – September 4
The Bascom Center for Visual Arts
323 Franklin Road
Highlands, NC 28741
Upcoming Exhibit: Interpretations 2023
Watercolor Shimmer will be on view as part of Interpretations 2023 - Visions Museum of Textile Art’s juried biennial.
The exhibit will be up from October 13th to December 30th in San Diego, California.
Visions Museum of Textile Art | 2825 Dewey Road, Suite 100 | San Diego, CA 92106
Upcoming Exhibit: Transformation at The Hudgens Center for Arts & Learning
Indigo Reflection will be on view at the The Hudgens Center for Art & Learning as part of Transformation, the 2023 Biennial of Textiles Exhibit organized by the Chattahoochee Handweavers Guild.
2023 Biennial of Textiles – TRANSFORMATION
“Transformation…In the period leading up to Transformation, we have experienced a global pandemic, isolation, and unexpected changes to how we work, live, and socialize. This drastic shift has brought out a resilience, which has led us to find new approaches to creating works of art, including how we source materials, produce fiber arts, and innovate using techniques and skills.
Located at the The Hudgens Center for Art & Learning, the exhibit is free to the public and presented in their gallery space.
Opening reception on May 6th from 2pm to 4pm at The Hudgens Center for Art & Learning. Tommye McClure Scanlin will be attending the opening reception to present awards and give a brief talk.”
6400 Sugarloaf Parkway
Building #300
Duluth, GA 30097
770.623.6002
Hours of Operation:
Tuesday – Saturday
10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Upcoming Exhibit: Fantastic Fibers 2023
My piece Watercolor Shimmer will be included in Fantastic Fibers 2023 at the Yeiser Art Center in Paducah, Kentucky.
The exhibition will be up from April 8th to June 24th, 2023 with a reception April 28th.
“Fantastic Fibers is an international juried exhibition that seeks to showcase a wide range of outstanding works related to the fiber medium. One of Yeiser Art Center’s most engaging, innovative and colorful international exhibits, Fantastic Fibers is an inspirational must-see for fine artists, quilters, and textile art enthusiasts across the globe.”
“The show began in 1987 as a wearable art show but has evolved over the years to include a compelling mix of traditional and non-traditional works created from natural or synthetic fibers, and work that addresses the subject or medium of fiber. Paducah becomes a Mecca for quilters and quilt enthusiasts each April as more than 30,000 visitors from across the globe attend AQS QuiltWeek.”
Fiber artist Rena Wood received her BFA in Fibers from the Kansas City Art Institute and MFA from the Department of Craft/Material Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. She is an Assistant Professor of Fiber Art at Tennessee Tech University’s Appalachian Center for Craft. As a Fiber Arts educator, she has taught workshops on embroidery and fiber processes at art centers and craft schools throughout the country. Previously, she was a Visiting Instructor at Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania and a Visiting Assistant Professor at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. Rena has been an Artist in Residence at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft in Houston, TX, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, TN, and at the Craft Alliance in St. Louis, MO. Her work has been shown nationally in solo and group exhibitions, most recently at the Leedy Voulkos Art Center in Kansas City, MO. Rena is a recipient of the Tennessee Arts Commission’s Individual Artist Fellowship in Craft for 2023.
Individual Artist Fellowship - New Jersey Council on the Arts
I'm so honored to share that I've been awarded a 2023 Individual Artist Fellowship in Crafts by the New Jersey Council on the Arts. This is such an amazing blessing and I'm so thankful for their generosity and support of the arts. Read more about the award in the press release below.
“STATE ARTS COUNCIL GRANTS NEARLY $2 MILLION TO NEW JERSEY ARTISTS & ANNOUNCES FUNDING FOR ARTS COMPENSATION DATA SURVEY
(Trenton, NJ) The New Jersey State Council on the Arts held its first public meeting of 2023 today, where nearly $2 million was awarded to 140 New Jersey artists through the Council’s Individual Artist Fellowship program.
The Fellowships are competitive awards to New Jersey artists in 12 rotating disciplines granted solely on independent peer panel assessment of work samples. The anonymous process is focused on artistic quality, and awards may be used to help artists produce new work and advance their careers. New Jersey artists applied for awards this year in the categories of choreography, crafts, music composition, photography, playwriting/screenwriting, poetry, and sculpture. This program is carried out in partnership with Mid Atlantic Arts.
At the Council’s Annual Meeting last July, the Council voted to authorize an unprecedented investment of $2 million in the Individual Artist Fellowship program. Through that commitment of funding, this year’s Fellowship cohort is the largest one the Council has added to its distinguished list of Fellows in over 30 years. In order to further support the increased number of artists applying to the program, the Council developed a new level of awards in addition to the Fellowship Award. For the first time, the Council announced Finalist Awards. The Finalists Awards are given to those applicants who scored highly, but just below the cutoff to receive a Fellowship.
See the complete list of the 2023 Fellowship and Finalist Award recipients.
“I am proud to work closely with the State Arts Council to support New Jersey’s arts sector,” said Secretary of State Tahesha Way. “And I am especially proud of the Council’s longstanding commitment to provide direct funding to the many talented, innovative artists who call New Jersey home. We know that kind of support is not available to artists in every state, and the fact that the Council has supported the Artist Fellowship program for over 50 years truly exemplifies the importance and value of our state’s artist community.”
Speaking to the significance of this year’s funding, Council Chair Elizabeth Mattson said, “It is of the utmost importance to the Council that our state’s artists are given the tools and resources they need to create – to work fully as an artist. With the increased funding for this year’s Fellowship program, we’ve been able to increase the amounts awarded, providing – in some cases – grant awards that are truly life-changing. These funds allow artists the opportunity to focus more time to their craft, creating the beautiful, thought-provoking work New Jersey artists are known for.”
In addition to announcing this year's Artist Fellowships, the meeting also included the announcement of $10,000 in funding to ArtPride New Jersey Foundation to support a new Compensation Data Survey. In an effort to prioritize and adopt pay equity policies, this survey will provide greater insight into the salaries of arts workers in all artistic disciplines throughout the state. This study will be specifically designed for New Jersey’s arts sector, providing detailed data that will be made available to all arts workers and employers in the field at no cost.
“The arts industry in New Jersey includes hundreds of arts businesses that employ thousands of artists and arts workers in capacities as diverse as the people themselves,” said Allison Tratner, Executive Director of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. “Data from this survey will help those on both sides of the hiring process understand and address issues of access and equity. Attracting and retaining talented people is critical to the future of our sector, and we’re excited to move this effort forward.”
The New Jersey State Council on the Arts, created in 1966, is a division of the NJ Department of State and a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. The Council was established to encourage and foster public interest in the arts; enlarge public and private resources devoted to the arts; promote freedom of expression in the arts; and facilitate the inclusion of art in every public building in New Jersey. The Council believes the arts are central to every element we value most in a modern society including: human understanding; cultural and civic pride; strong communities; excellent schools; lifelong learning; creative expression; and economic opportunity. To learn more about the Council, please visit www.artscouncil.nj.gov.“
Upcoming Exhibit: The Color of Water @ The Sebastopol Center for the Arts
My piece Surface of the Waters, will be included in "The Color of Water" at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts.
Opening reception will be February 11, 2023 2-4 pm. The show will be up from 2/11 to 3/23.
Thank you to Juror, Lori Austin for including my work in the show!
Sebastopol Center for the Arts
282 S. High Street, Sebastopol, CA 95472
(707) 829-4797
info@sebarts.org
Gallery Hours
Thursday - Sunday 10am - 4pm
Yarn/Rope/String at New Bedford Art Museum
My piece, Beacon is currently on view as part of Yarn/Rope/String at the New Bedford Art Museum. Organized in partnership with Fiber Art Now and juried by Michael F. Rohde. The show is open until March 12, 2023.
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“The Fiber Art Now Yarn/Rope/String exhibitions were designed to encourage innovative use of fibers that artists incorporate into new and exciting works of art. The jurors for the 2021 and 2022 exhibitions in print had this to say about the expanse of this expressive niche of fiber art:
Yarn/Rope/String 2021 juror María-Elisa Heg, Curatorial Fellow at Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, said “Yarn/Rope/String features a selection of arresting pieces that showcase some of the best craftsmanship in fiber today. Whether grappling with the uncertainties of the age or deep in exploration of material and process, these pieces grab on and ask you to look closer, and for longer. Selecting from so many excellent submissions was no easy task, a sign of exciting things to come in the field. Above all, the works in Yarn/Rope/String prompt delight, wonderment, and contemplation through their skillful execution.” crafthouston.org
Yarn/Rope/String 2021 juror and tapestry artist Micala Sidore stated, “It is terrific to see how many people choose fiber as a means to express themselves. Not all the work displays the same level of ability—it never does. But it testifies to the engagement of the makers. I seek work that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. The last of these criteria is what tells me that I am seeing something that is special.” Over the past 40 years, Sidore has given talks, published more than 45 articles, and exhibited her own work in North America, Australia, and Poland. She is the author of The Art is the Cloth (Schiffer Books, 2020). hawleystreet.com
Yarn/Rope/String 2022 juror Michael F. Rohde has been weaving since 1973. His work is in the permanent collections of the George Washington University Museum, The Textile Museum in Washington, DC; the Mingei Museum in San Diego, California; the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles in San Jose, California; the Ventura County Museum of Art in Ventura, California; the Racine Art Museum in Racine, Wisconsin; and The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. “It is always a special privilege to be given the chance to see a large body of work, but a challenge to select only a few,” said Rohde. “Some of the things I looked for and found include excellence in craftsmanship, new ways of expressing ideas with fiber, and occasionally work that addressed what happens outside of the studios yet impacts us all. Not all works embodied all criteria. This led to a selection that was diverse and hopefully with some things that are new to each of us.”
New Bedford Art Museum
608 Pleasant Street, New Bedford, MA 02740
508-961-3072
Upcoming Exhibit: UnCommon Threads
My piece, Cloud Landscape will be on view in UnCommon Threads at the Carlisle Arts Learning Center in Carlisle, PA from September 23rd through October 29th. An opening reception will take place on Friday, Sept. 23rd.
“This exhibit is intended to highlight the connection between contemporary textile art and the traditional methods and materials from which they evolved.”
38 W. Pomfret Street, Carlisle, PA 17013
The Woven Tale Press Magazine
Thank you to The Woven Tale Press for featuring my work in their Fall 2022 issue.
The Showcase @ ART FAIR 14C
I’m so excited to be selected for the showcase within Art Fair 14C at the The Armory in Jersey City.
4th Edition of Art Fair 14C
November 11 – 13, 2022
The Armory
678 Montgomery Street
Jersey City NJ
“THE SHOWCASE
A unique element of Art Fair 14C is The Showcase, which provides an exhibition space at the fair for individual artists, giving them greater exposure to collectors, galleries and museums. At Art Fair 14C, The Showcase is open to artists who live, or have a studio, in the state of New Jersey.”
THE 2022 SHOWCASE
Rachael Bailey | Hackettestown
BARC the dog | Cliffside Park
Donna Bassin | Montclair
Kathleen Beausoleil | Fair Haven
Anonda Bell | Montclair
Jessie Bloom | Hawthorne
Gail M Boykewich | Maplewood
Chee Bravo | Trenton (also 2020, 2021)
Mary Jean Canziani | Springfield
Thomas John Carlson | Jersey City (also 2019)
Russell S Christian | Maplewood
Tim Daly | Hoboken (also 2020, 2021)
Michelle Lynn Davies | Colonia
Amelia Dennigan | Jersey City
DISTORT | Jersey City
dror/forshée | Jersey City (also 2019, 2020, 2021)
Jada Fabrizio | Weehawken (also 2019, 2020)
Lisa Ficarelli-Halpern | Shrewsbury (also 2020)
Shauna Finn | Jersey City (also 2021)
Sunil Garg | Summit
Valerie Huhn | Flemington (also 2021)
Patti Jordan | Montclair
Eunju Kang | Jersey City (also 2021)
Rachel Kanter | Montclair
Robert F Lach | West Orange (also 2021)
Wendy Letven | Clifton
Christina Sorace MacKinnon | Flemington
Kirk Maynard | Orange (also 2021)
Winifred McNeill | Jersey City (also 2021)
Deborah L Morris | Weehawken
Raisa Nosova | Jersey City
Patricia Patzi | Bloomfield
Judith Peck | Mahwah
Joseph Gerard Sabatino | Paterson
Sebastian Santoalba | Fair Lawn
Christine Sauerteig-Pilaar | Oak Ridge (also 2020)
Sharon Sayegh | East Brunswick (also 2020)
Teena Soni | Somerset
Charlie Spademan | Montclair
Shamona Stokes | Jersey City
Judi Tavill | Rumson
Amanda J Thackray | Newark
Abhishek Tuiwala | Sayreville
Rachel Blythe Udell | Sewell
Ann Vollum | South Orange
Ira Wagner | Montclair
Gail Winbury | Westfield (also 2019)
Emi Winter | South Orange
Wescover Lounge at NeoCon 2022
My piece Linen Fringe, was featured in the Wescover lounge at this year’s NeoCon show in Chicago.
Upcoming Exhibit: Constructed Visions IV
Bronze Waters will be included in the St. Louis Artists’ Guild upcoming exhibit, Constructed Visions IV.
Juried by Jennifer Scanlan, the artwork exhibited includes “3D or 2D contemporary fine craft or sculpture that highlight process-driven methods. The artistic products are either functional or nonfunctional, and the process, technique, and material all align with the intent or content of each piece. The artwork exhibited encompasses wood, metal, paper, fiber, glass, clay, jewelry, encaustics, and printmaking as well as non-traditional materials.”
The opening reception will take place on Friday, July 1st from 5-8pm.
The show will be on view from July 1st - August 6, 2022. Gallery Hours: Tuesday - Friday 10am-6pm, Saturday 10am-4pm
12 North Jackson Ave.
Clayton, MO 63105
(at the corner of Forsyth and Jackson)
About the Juror: Jennifer Scanlan - Deputy Director at Craft Alliance
“Jennifer Scanlan is an independent curator focusing on contemporary art and design. She has worked in public art, exhibitions, and programming in government entities, organizations, and museums across the country, most recently as the Exhibitions and Curatorial Director at Oklahoma Contemporary in Oklahoma City. From 2013 through 2015 she was a New York-based independent curator working on exhibitions at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City; the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C.; the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center in Vermont; the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz; and the Museum of Biblical Art in New York.”
Upcoming Exhibit : State of the Art 2022 - Studio Montclair
Cloud Current will be included in State of Art 2022 at Studio Montclair.
Over 180 artists will be displaying their work in the new space at Leach Gallery.
The exhibit opens Sunday, June 26th with a reception from 2-5pm. The show runs throughout August 12th.
Studio Montclair Leach Gallery
641 Bloomfield Avenue, Montclair, NJ 07042
SKYLINE
Skyline officially opened at the Passaic County Arts Center this Saturday. It will be on view until July 3rd, 2022.
Join me for an opening reception on Saturday, May 7th from 1-3pm!
View the works included in the exhibition - SKYLINE
Passaic County Arts Center
at the John Rea House
675 Goffle Brook Road
Hawthorne, New Jersey
TAPinto Hawthorne Feature
Thank you to Lyn Morton and TAPinto Hawthorne for the lovely write up about my path into textile art.
Below text is copied from the original article.
By LYNFORD MORTON for TAPinto Hawthorne
HAWTHORNE, NJ - As a young girl, Jessie Bloom dreamed of becoming a painter. She just didn’t know on the way there, her career would weave through the fashion industry and be interrupted by a pandemic. But it’s a journey that has led the Hawthorne-based creator to now work as a full-time artist and textile designer, with a show at the Passaic County Arts Center at the John W. Rea House in Hawthorne. Bloom’s Woven Works show, Skyline, opens at the Passaic County Arts Center on April 30, 2022, and remains on display through July 3, 2022.
The road to art on textiles began in high school. “I wanted to be a painter, actually. That was before I knew that this whole world existed in the fashion industry. I was very much interested in fine art and painting,” Bloom said. But in high school, a teacher who specialized in textiles and taught a fiber art class caught Bloom’s attention. “High school is where I learned about fiber art because we had a great teacher who was interested in textiles and fiber arts. She was an art teacher who taught a specialty fiber art class. That was the beginning of learning about art as it relates to textiles, and those hand processes for surface design: all those techniques and processes that you would apply to the art side of textiles,” she said.
By the time Bloom headed to college, she was all in on fiber arts. In fact, that was her primary requirement for choosing a school. “I applied to Cornell University. That was the only school I applied to attend because they had a dual major program in painting and fiber art. That’s what I initially wanted to do. The track was very specific for the science of apparel design.”
College taught her fashion design as it relates to textiles, meaning fiber science and fiber structure. By the time she finished her program, she was ready to work in the fashion industry but still yearned for art. “I was always obsessed with the textile art part of fashion, so I was doing it all along, even though I just love making art.”
Like many aspiring artists, Bloom chose the practical route of the 9-5, working in textile design. “It’s challenging to do art full time, especially right out of college. I thought my focus would have to be something in the fashion industry and then continue to pursue art on the side.” And that’s how it would have continued for Bloom had it not been interrupted by a pandemic. She had been working at Lord & Taylor for seven years. “I was never going to leave. I was never planning to go anywhere,” she said. But the industry took a downturn, and the team was let go. “The department store business is so challenging. We had gone through a lot of different reorganizations, and they cut people as they pared down. It happens over and over again in the fashion industry. And I think COVID just made it happen for us. I don’t know that the company would say it was COVID, but they just decided to eliminate our design teams. I stayed on a few more months to finish out the production process, but I ended up launching my freelance business full time in late 2020.”
Like so many people during the pandemic, Bloom used the time at home to try the entrepreneurial life. She set some goals to see if she could make the business sustainable. “I really enjoyed working from home. I had an idea in my head. If I can make this a success and make enough money each month consistently, then I’m just going to continue freelancing, continue working from home.” And it worked. Bloom created a business that blends freelancing for corporate clients and small businesses doing custom print design. She also creates woven art on commission for interior designers and art consultants. “Working for myself is the absolute best-case scenario. I love having ownership over the projects I work on. It’s really been wonderful for me,” she said.
The art side of her business is what led her to the Rea House art show. Bloom will be displaying about 15 pieces that she created between 2020 and 2022. “The show is called Skyline because a lot of the work is inspired by landscapes. It is like atmosphere, landscape, light, and color, how those things interact to create a new woven landscape. You’ll see that thematically throughout each piece. It focuses on the horizon line.” Bloom will be available for two openings — the Gallery Opening Reception, May 5, from 5:30 - 8:30 p.m, and an Artist Opening Reception, May 7, from 1 - 3 p.m.
Lyn Morton is an independent marketing consultant who provides marketing & client relations for TAPinto Hawthorne & TAPinto Fair Lawn/Glen Rock. Learn more about Lyn and how he can help your business advertise with TAPinto at lynmorton.com/njmarketing.
Upcoming Solo Show: SKYLINE
I'm excited to share the details for my upcoming show at the Passaic County Arts Center.
SKYLINE will include recent woven artwork from 2021 and 2022.
Opening reception will be Saturday, May 7th from 1-3pm.
The show will be on view from April 30th to July 3rd.
Passaic County Arts Center
at the John Rea House
675 Goffle Brook Road
Hawthorne, New Jersey
2022 Craft Biennial at Fuller Craft Museum
Obsidian Sea will be included in the Fuller Craft Museum’s 2022 Craft Biennial opening February 19th through June 12th.
“The 2022 Craft Biennial celebrates the diversity of talents in the museum’s diverse audience. This biennial exhibition is an important opportunity for young, mid-career, and veteran artists to exhibit their work to the Fuller Craft Museum community. Artists both inside and outside of New England have participated in the past, showcasing stunning works of ceramics, glassware, furniture, textiles, basketry, woodturning, jewelry, and other craft-based media. In the past, this exhibition has been particularly successful at bringing together communities of artists who are vital to the Fuller Craft Museum mission.”
Fuller Craft Museum
455 Oak Street
Brockton, MA 02301
EXHIBITING ARTISTS:
Eliza Au
Mariel Bass
Hayne Bayless
Jessie Bloom
Beatrice Bonanno
Barbara Burns
Eric Carr
Vivian Chiu
Eunsuh Choi
Craig Clifford
Funlola Coker
Linda Colsh
Donald DiMauro
Ken Edwards
Sophie Glenn
Aspen Golann
Janna Gregonis
Katie Hudnall
Michael F. James
Benjamin Johnson
John Jordan
Claire Kelly
Joshua Kosker
Jason Lyons
Charlotte Middleton
Rob Millard-Mendez
Peter Olson
Kyungmin Park
Rachel Reichert
George Sargent
Patricia Sargent
Lynne Sausele
Heather Marie Scholl
Madeline Rile Smith
Carol Snyder
Jason Stein
Keri Straka
Lynn Szymanski
Mark Tan
Demetra Theofanous and Dean Bensen
Joyce Utting Schutter
Carol Ventura
Jennifer Violette
Sue Weil
Mallory Weston
Michelle Williams
Stephen Yusko
Upcoming Exhibit: Yarn, Rope, String
Beacon is featured in the Winter 2021 issue of Fiber Arts Now Magazine, and will be included in the upcoming exhibition hosted by New Bedford Art Museum in New Bedford, Massachusetts from December 8, 2022-June 26, 2023.
Beacon is featured in the Winter 2021 issue of Fiber Arts Now Magazine, and will be included in the upcoming exhibition hosted by New Bedford Art Museum in New Bedford, Massachusetts from December 8th, 2022-March 12th, 2023.
Absolute Abstraction at Studio Montclair
Neon Haze will be included in Studio Montclair’s exhibit, Absolute Abstraction opening October 29th with reception October 31st from 2 to 4:30pm.
Neon Haze is made from linen, tencel and hand dyed strips of silk and framed in walnut.
Studio Montclair presents “Absolute Abstraction” on exhibit from October 29 through November 30 at Studio Montclair Gallery, 127 Bloomfield Avenue, Montclair, NJ. The exhibit, featuring the artwork of almost 50 artists, embraces non-representational art as a way for artists to express themselves.
An opening reception will take place on Sunday, October 31st from 2 to 4:30pm.
Participating Artists:
Peter Allen, Patrick Binns, Nancy Blankenhorn, Jessie Bloom, Gyorgyi Bors, Pasquale Cuppari, Mary Dajnak, Luz Donahue, SK Duffs, Mikel Frank, Yolanda Fundora, Debbie Galant, Richard Gilles, Anita Gladstone, Curtis Grayson, Michelle Harpster, Donna Jordan, Claudia Kreiss, Jade Lam, Joe LaMattina, Emma Larkin, Claude Larson, Stuart Larson, Edie Locke, Patricia Malarcher, Cassandra Martin, Brian McCormack, Chuck Miley, Ann Marie Miller, Barbara Alice Moir, Bryan Murray, Mansa Mussa, Ruth Bauer Neustadter, Nancy Pantirer, Diane Patmos, Kay Reese, Katy Repka, Bryan Robertson, Gregg Rosen, Fausto Sevila, Michael Sherman, Dorit Shmuel, Abbey Stace, Mark Stanley, Oni Strother, Katie Truk, Miroslav Vrzala, Sue Eldridge Ward, Juno Zago
Please note: The Gallery requires proof of vaccination or a negative covid test for entry.
https://www.studiomontclair.org/october-2021-absolute-abstraction/
