Thirty Juried Vendors, Seventeen Special Exhibits, and Thirteen Classes are Featured at The Silver City Fiber Arts Festival, Friday and Saturday, July 17 and 18, 2015
The Silver City Fiber Arts Festival will be held Friday and Saturday July 17 and 18, 2015 from 10am-5pm at the Grant County Business and Conference Center at 3031 Hwy 180 East in Silver City, NM. The festival will feature 30 juried vendors of handmade fiber art and fiber art making supplies from all over the west, 17 special exhibits showcasing many different fiber art items, and 13 classes and workshops, and more. The festival is free and donations are encouraged at the door, to help the Southwest Women’s Fiber Arts Collective’s nonprofit fundraising efforts.
The festival is a celebration of the fiber arts and is also a major fundraising event for the Southwest Women’s Fiber Arts Collective, a 501 c 3 non-profit. The organization provides opportunities for rural women to earn income, provides classes in various fiber arts, and helps educate the public about the many different fiber arts. They operate The Common Thread , a fiber art gallery of handmade fiber items by members at 107 W. Broadway in downtown, Silver City, NM.
This two day celebration of all things fiber will include vendors selling a variety of handmade fiber art and fiber art supplies. Hand woven shawls, scarves, and more, hand knitted or crocheted garments or accessories, items made of fabric, fiber baskets, quilts, dolls, rag rugs, silk painted items, and many more items will be on sale by vendors. Supplies available for purchase by fiber art enthusiasts from other vendors will include, fabric, hand dyed yarn and fibers, rug hooking supplies, beads, boat shuttles and weaving supplies, buttons, cotton and spinning tools, and much more.
The Silver City Fiber Arts Festival will have Maureen Craig, a Certified Appraiser of Quilted Textiles available during the festival for appraisals. There is a fee for the appraisal.
Some of the Special Exhibits include Colcha Embroidery, a very New Mexico traditional technique, beautiful quilt exhibits, Navajo weavings done in Amish quilt designs, a sheep to shawl exhibit that explains how raw wool becomes a garment, silk exhibits, wool hooked rugs, and needlework will be on display to inspire all fiber enthusiasts and create a new appreciation of fiber art for the novice.
Classes and workshops will include Colcha embroidery, how to dye with natural plants, button making, needle felting, quilting, and even a mini fashion show.
This will be the third Silver City Fiber Arts Festival. The first year about 1,200 attended, the second, about 1,600 and we expect more for this year. Festival goers came from the local area as well as from all over New Mexico, Arizona, west Texas, and many other places. The festival is organized by a committee of members of the Southwest Women’s Fiber Arts Collective with the help of many local community volunteers. The festival is held every two years and is one of the best fiber art shows in southern New Mexico and a wonderful chance to see many different fiber art forms. You don‘t want to miss it!
For more information please call The Common Thread at 575-538-5733 or go to www.fiberartscollective.org.
