Multi-media exhibit by internationally renowned textile artist Cynthia Schira

WHALLONSBURG, NY - Weavings from Cynthia’s Studio is an exhibit by Cynthia Schira, a textile artist living and working in Westport, New York. Cynthia has been exhibiting her work internationally for over 50 years. Her work is in the collections of major museums, including the Renwick of the Smithsonian, the Metropolitan and the Textile Museum in D.C. For over twenty years, she was a Professor of Design at the University of Kansas. Additionally, she is a life trustee at the Haystack School of Crafts. Over the years she has received three NEA grants, a Tiffany Grant, a Gold Medal from the ACC College of Fellows and an Honorary Doctorate from RISD.

Cynthia approaches her work with a playful seriousness – often turning the accepted rules of her craft upside down. Throughout her career, she has explored unusual methods and materials - discarded aluminum strips, rayon trim and surplus cotton bandages. She has been at the forefront of creating art using computerized looms to experiment with complex, painterly imagery.  She often uses complex weave structures that evoke landscapes of time, nature and place.  “When I started working from what I really loved, from the land, then my work became stronger because it was more honest.”

Much of the work in Weavings from Cynthia’s Studio showcases her burst of productivity during the pandemic:

“By replacing accepted routines and obligations with extended studio time, I played. Using leftover materials, unused parts, scraps, embroideries, glue, frames, clay pieces, scissors, rejected weavings, a printer, the computer, paper, my embroidery machine, the sewing machine—whatever—I spent hours involved.”

Join us for a reception with Cynthia on Tuesday, September 17 from 5pm – 7pm.  A short video about her work and life will be shown at 5:30pm. 

The exhibit runs from September through November 9.  Whitcomb’s gallery is open on Tues, Thurs and Friday from 10am - 3pm and Saturdays from 12p – 3p. 

For more information see thegrangehall.info 

Whitcomb’s is located at 1598 NYS Route 22, Whallonsburg, NY, across from the Grange.