The Exquisite Gorge Project II: Fiber Arts receives major grants

“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts projects like this one from Maryhill Museum of Art that help support the community’s creative economy,” said NEA Acting Chair Ann Eilers. “Maryhill Museum of Art is among the arts organizations nationwide that are using the arts as a source of strength, a path to well-being, and providing access and opportunity for people to connect and find joy through the arts.”

In addition to the recent grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the project has received funding from a number of regional grantmakers, including Roundhouse Foundation, Umpqua Bank Charitable Foundation’s Community Grants, The Salvador Fund of the Gorge Community Foundation, Columbia Fiber Arts Guild, and Umpqua Bank, Goldendale Branch.

“We are eager to build on the success of the first Exquisite Gorge Project and these funds make it possible,” said Louise Palermo, curator of education at Maryhill and founder of the Exquisite Gorge Project. “We are thrilled that grant makers like the NEA, at the national level, as well as regional funders, believe in this project and see the impact it has on participating artists, our community partners and the public.”

In the coming months, 13 regional fiber artists are slated to work in communities along 220 miles of the Columbia River from the Willamette Confluence in Portland to the Snake River Confluence near Walla Walla.

Drawing inspiration from the people, the landscape, and the river, the artists will collaborate with a community partner and interact with community members from their assigned stretch of the river to create unique, site-specific installations, sculpture, and innovative designs, said the press release. They will also engage in programs meant to inspire and educate the public about fiber arts.

Maps and guides will encourage the public to visit each location; during a culminating Festival of Fiber Arts on Saturday, Aug. 6 at Maryhill Museum of Art, artists and each completed section will be brought together to reveal a continuous 66-foot flowing sculpture with the Columbia River as a central element.

Palermo is the project director and Oregon-based artist Tammy Jo Wilson is the artistic director. Participating artists are Francisco and Laura Bautista, Lynn Deal, Ophir El-Boher, Carolyn Hazel Drake, Xander Griffith, Chloë Hight, Kristy Kún, Jessica Lavadour, Magda Nica, Owen Premore, and Amanda Triplett.

The artists work in a variety of textile and fiber-based media, from weaving, basketry, and repurposed textiles to quilt making, jewelry, and felt making, according to the press release.