The 16th Annual Fiber Art Exhibition at North Charleston City Hall features works by more than 50 African American artists from all over the country. The theme for this year’s fiber exhibition is “Sister Girl Friends (And Brothers, Too),” inspired by the Isadora James quote, “a sister friend is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life.”
The show is curated by award-winning and nationally exhibiting textile artist, Torreah “Cookie” Washington and organized by the City of North Charleston’s Cultural Arts Department, presented as part of the annual North Charleston Arts Fest.
Washington said this year’s theme looks to celebrate friendships and chosen family. She challenged artists to create fiber art exploring “the special bond between sister-girlfriends and the strength that can be drawn from these cherished relationships.”
The exhibition features a variety of traditional and nontraditional fiber techniques, including handmade dolls, quilts and more. The Charleston-based artists in the show include Lenora Brown, Cathy Alvarez, Pearlean Bowen-Parker and Caseline Jenkins.
“One of the things that I love about this exhibit is the camaraderie,” Washington said. “Getting to be together with artists that are just fantastic, hard working and passionate about their art.”
The artists featured in the show are established artists working in fiber with the exception of a few emerging artists, Washington said.
“When curating the show, I want pieces that I think really fit the theme and also are really moving, because, as an African American artist, it can be a long time coming, trying to get taken seriously as an artist,” she said. “So it’s vitally important that the art be really top notch.”
Washington established the show in 2008 to make space for Black artists to safely show their work. She explained she was motivated after a bad experience showing her art with a quilt guild when her piece depicting a Black Madonna was pushed to the back of the exhibition and censored without her permission.
“I thought, you know what? If you guys are going to mess with Black artists and damage our work out of jealousy or fear or disapproval of the statement that I’m trying to make, I don’t need to be here. And I thought, I know so many Black quilters and we need a place to show our art safely. And that’s when North Charleston graciously allowed me to have the show.”
Sixteen years later, she said it gets “bigger and better each time” with quilters and fiber artists from across the country now participating. Washington said she is grateful for the North Charleston Cultural Arts Department for its lasting support.
“I love the North Charleston Cultural Arts Department. They are supportive, enthusiastic and helpful, and are really supportive of individual artists and women artists and artists of color. I just could not ask for a better crew.”
The 16th African American Fiber Arts Exhibition is on view at North Charleston City Hall from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily until June 18. When the exhibition ends, up to 20 works will be selected to tour the state of South Carolina through the S.C. State Museum’s 2023/2024 Traveling Exhibitions Program.
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