RSVP Required: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/weaving-stories-tickets-1058387859579?aff=oddtdtcreator

Weaving Stories is a series of community-building weaving workshops meant to connect our shared stories of heritage and culture to material practice. Taking place at Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture, and Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art in the coming months, the series invites participants to learn how to use a hand loom and contribute found materials to a collective weaving project on a standing loom. Participants are encouraged to bring non-wool materials from home, such as fabric scraps, fibers, ribbons, twigs, etc.

The second session in the series, taking place at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, is led by artists Bryana Bibbs and Jaroslava Lialia Kuchma, both of whom have artwork currently on display at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art. Participants are taught how to use a hand loom and receive kits to continue their projects at home. Participants are encouraged to bring fabrics from home to contribute to a community tapestry which will travel from site to site.

This series is free, family-friendly, for all ages, and open to the public. Materials and refreshments are provided.

Works by Bryana Bibbs, Bonnie Peterson, Daliah Silver, Katie Vota

Fabric of the Earth features a collection of fiber-based works that convey the urgent state of climate change. This polyphonic exhibition weaves together diverse perspectives on ecology and environment, including works that focus on scientific studies, social justice, and our lived experiences in relationship to the natural world.  Each artist's approach to textile lends a nuanced and tactile perspective on the current state of our climate. Not only does it challenge our ties to the textile production industry and its role in climate change and injustice, it also makes concrete and tangible our sense of environmental dread. Intentionally situated within a history of “craftivism,” the exhibition is marked by compelling conviction and prompting climate action for the sake of both planet and people alike. Fabric of the Earth features woven, sewn, quilted, and stitched artworks that welcome our community to intertwine our voices and stories to create the fabric of our future.

On Creative Practice brings together two artists in conversation to discuss studio practices, materiality and creation, and what it means to be a working artist today. Join us for this intimate conversation with Bryana Bibbs, current Elevate artist at 21c Chicago, and writer and cultural worker Erin Toale.

Bryana Bibbs is a Chicago-based artist who works at the intersection of textiles, painting, and community-based practices. Bibbs earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Fiber and Material Studies at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is the founder of The We Were Never Alone Project - a weaving workshop for victims and survivors of domestic violence, currently serves on the Surface Design Association’s Education Committee, and was named one of Newcity’s Breakout Artists of 2024. Bibbs has had recent solo exhibitions at the Chesterton Art Center (Chesterton, IN) and Tiger Strikes Asteroid (Chicago, IL). She has had recent group exhibitions at Chicago Art Department (Chicago, IL), Chicago Artists Coalition (Chicago, IL), Elmhurst Art Museum (Elmhurst, IL), Portland Library (Portland, ME), and George Marshall Store Gallery Portland, ME), and George Marshall Store Gallery (York, ME). Bibbs has participated in residencies at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts (Gatlinburg, TN), Surf Point Foundation (York, ME), the Lunder Institute for American Art (Waterville, ME), and Chicago Artists Coalition (Chicago, IL)

Erin Toale is a Chicago-based writer and cultural worker. She earned Dual MAs in Modern Art History, Theory, and Criticism - and Arts Administration and Policy - from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2013, and a BFA from Moore College of Art and Design in 2006. She has worked for a variety of nonprofits, galleries, and research centers including the Rebuild Foundation, the Social Impact of the Arts Project, the Sullivan Galleries at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, and the Hyde Park Art Center. She participated in both the HATCH Projects Curatorial Residency at Chicago Artists Coalition (2015) and the Center Program at the Hyde Park Art Center (2016). She is a Teaching Artist at the Hyde Park Art Center, a Contributing Writer for the Chicago Reader and Newcity, and Founding Director of the outdoor project space Bird Show.

TICKET LINK BELOW

Enjoy a glass of wine with weaving artist Bryana Bibbs and learn the basics of hand looming while hearing about her artistic practice. Bibbs intuitively documents her personal experiences using traditional weaving techniques, hand-spun yarn and found objects.

Bibbs’ exhibition Unforeseen is currently on view as a part of our Elevate series and includes a selection of Journal Series weavings created in the winter of 2023 using found objects from her grandparents' backyard, her Mema's pantry, her Mema's sewing tins, and hand-spun wool that Bibbs had previously made.

Elevate at 21c presents temporary exhibitions of works by artists living and working in the communities surrounding each 21c Museum Hotel. Elevate provides hotel guests and visitors with unique access to the work of notable regional artists, while featuring their work in the context of 21c’s contemporary art space.

Price includes 1 drink ticket and all weaving supplies.

“Agency: Craft in Chicago from the 1970s–80s and Beyond,” an exhibition that will explore the development and legacy of Chicago’s high craft movement, highlighting craft as a means for change and a mechanism for expressing agency outside of institutional frameworks. The exhibition will feature over 40 artists and focus on fiber, ceramics, jewelry, wood, and glass works. The project is presented as part of the citywide initiative Art Design Chicago.

Save the date for the opening reception on Saturday, September 21st from 11 - 6 p.m.

Portrait Society Gallery is pleased to present SEAMS II: Criss Cross, a fiber exhibition.

The second in the gallery’s series of group exhibitions dedicated to fibers and textiles, Criss Cross explores a broad theme of journeys, travels, and border crossings. It also alludes to the path and movement of stitching and weaving as threads leave map-like marks of an artist’s journey.

The exhibition includes more than 20 regional and national artists who stitch, weave, or build with fabric. Milwaukee based artist Heidi Parkes (currently the Pfister Hotel artist in residence) frequently travels to explore the cultural traditions of textiles or to lead sewing/quilting workshops. In response to the places she has visited, Parkes has created a series of travel quilts that record her impressions. In a newlarge-scale work, Anika M. Kowalik pieces together sections of canvas to construct a surface for painting, scraping, and sculpting textures, building a landscape of accumulation and erasure. Milwaukee based artist Ella Clemons produces small- scale stitched drawings that act as pages of a sketchbook recording unlikely places such as the bathrooms of dive bars. Rosemary Ollison is a textile artist and clothing designer who is working on new large scale composite pieces of repurposed fabric. Ray Materson’s artist journey began in prison when he started making tiny embroidered works by unraveling the threads in socks. Now released and living in Michigan, he continues to create these elaborately intricate works that have brought him national recognition.

Other artists include: Liv Aanrud, Lisa Marie Barber, Hannah O’Hare Benned, Bryana Bibbs, Phoenix Brown, Natasha Das, Alexis Lee Or[z-Duarte, Kate Flake, Gigi Gastevich, Elnaz Javani, Ray Materson, Judith Mullen, Melissa Scherrer Paré, Rosy Petri, Eden Quispe, Monica Rezman, Josie Love Roebuck, Divyangi Shukla, Anne Grgich and Della Wells.

Contact Portrait Society Gallery at portraitsocietygallery@gmail.com for additional information and images.

About this event

Join Intertwine Arts for an online talk wherein artists we admire describe their textile influences. We will examine two artists’ fiber art, as well as discuss the intersections and divergences of their craft and experiences. Featuring Bryana Bibbs and Anna-Maie Southern, they will explore how their art and teaching practices reflect a journalistic sense of weaving, navigate mental health, as well as highlight the virtues of plain-weave.

Register to receive a link to the Zoom meeting and a captioned recording of the program.

Suggested Donation: $10

About Bryana Bibbs

Bryana Bibbs is a Chicago-based artist who works at the intersection of textiles, painting, and community-based practices. Bibbs earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Fiber and Material Studies at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She founded The We Were Never Alone Project - a weaving workshop for victims and survivors of domestic violence, serves on the Surface Design Association’s Education Committee, and was named one of Newcity’s Breakout Artists of 2024. Bibbs has exhibited at galleries and museums such as Elmhurst Art Museum, Tiger Strikes Asteroid - Chicago, the Museum of Science and Industry, Praxis Fiber Workshop, Purple Window Gallery, and George Marshall Store Gallery. Recent awards and residencies include The Lunder Institute for American Art Summer Residential Fellowship, Surf Point Foundation Artist Residency, and Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts Winter Pentaculum.

You can see some of her amazing work by clicking here!

About Anna-Maie Southern

Anna-Maie (she/her) studied BA Textile Design at Central St Martins, London, where she specialized in TC2 Digital Jacquard weaving. She first discovered SAORI weaving at Loop of the Loom in 2018, during a three month intensive internship program at the UES Studio. Since then she has been a convert to the SAORI weaving method. She works from home on a SAORI loom, developing her own artistic practice. Anna-Maie moved full time to New York in 2019, and began working as the studio manager of the new DUMBO studio shortly after. She then found herself as a teaching artist for Intertwine Arts. Anna-Maie enjoys building community, teaching kids classes, and untangling yarns.

You can see some of her amazing work by clicking here!

About Intertwine Arts

We are a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring creativity, joy, and self-confidence through freestyle weaving for people of all ages with disabilities or chronic illness. Learn more about our work, get involved, and donate at www.intertwinearts.org.

Accessibility:

The speakers have been prepped to provide verbal descriptions, and captioned recordings will be sent to all registrants after the event. Please contact Danaleah at danah@intertwinearts.org for access questions or accommodation requests.

Join us for a reception with the artists at 3:30 p.m ET, followed by a curatorial talk by Erica Warren at 4:30 p.m ET.

About the Exhibition

Beyond: Tapestry Expanded is an ATA-sponsored exhibition that explores the expansive properties of tapestry. Using the definition of tapestry as a nonfunctional, handwoven pictorial structure, artists included in the exhibition combined both hand and digital processes, using non-traditional materials, to create three-dimensional forms or multi-media components. 

Beyond: Tapestry Expanded will be exhibited at the Peeler Art Center at DePauw University in Greencastle, IN from August 26 through December 8th, 2024. Jurors for the exhibition are Jade Yumang, Associate Professor of Fiber & Material Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Alexa Griffith Winton, co-curator of the upcoming Dorothy Liebes exhibition at the Cooper Hewitt. Artists selected by the jurors will be exhibiting alongside a curated selection of artists by Erica Warren, a former curator with the Art Institute of Chicago. A curatorial talk will take place on Tuesday, September 10, at 4:30 pm and is open to the public. The exhibition is also accompanied by a comprehensive catalog that includes the work of all artists exhibiting in the exhibition. Catalogs can be purchased here. 

Exhibiting Artists

The list below includes juried and curated artists in the exhibition. 

Abbey Muza, Anne Wilson, Bryana Bibbs, Christina Forrer, Christy Matson, Crystal Gregory, Danielle Andress, Diana Guerrero-Macia, Dianna Frid, Hope Wang, Janice Lessman-Moss, Jacqueline Surdell, Jovencio de la Paz, kg gnatowski, Kira Dominguez Hultgren, Delaina Doshi, Lia Cook, Marianne Fairbanks, Melissa Leandro, Olivia Valentine, Olive Stefanski, Qualeasha Wood, Susie Taylor, Tanya Aguiñiga, Yasmin Spiro, C. Pazia Mannella, Constanza Camila Kramer Garfias, Jacobo Alonso, Jennifer Robertson, Kate Nartker, Linda Sok, Rose Dickson, Sarah Stefana Smith, Theda Sandiford, Wlodzimierz Cygan, and Xia Gao.

21c Museum Hotel Chicago is pleased to present Unforeseen, a solo exhibition of select Journal Series weavings from Winter 2023 by Bryana Bibbs. 

The journals were made a month before her grandfather (Papa George) passed on December 18, 2023. Along with her mom, Bibbs stayed at her grandparents' home to assist her Papa George, hoping he would get better. Unable to create new materials, Bibbs journaled using found objects from her grandparents' backyard, her Mema's pantry, her Mema's sewing tins, and hand-spun wool that Bibbs had previously made.   

In the Journal Series weavings, Bibbs intuitively documents her personal experiences using materials, colors, and textures. She makes her yarn using the traditional textile techniques of hand-carding and hand-spinning before hand-weaving them on her frame loom, and she incorporates collected found objects. 

Statement: My Papa George always biked, went to the gym, played tennis, and was overall an athletic person. When I was smaller, he used to take me to the park across the street so I could learn how to play tennis, roller skate, ride a bike, and use a kite. The older my Papa George got he still went to the gym, but stopped going to the gym when my Mema was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. 

I never thought I would see my Papa George in the way that I did last year. The journals on view were created after my grandfather had taken a fall, and my mom and I stayed at the house to assist him and my Mema. These journals were different. 

I never knew how long I would work on the Journal Series when they began in 2020. And I never thought the journals' would document my life and my family's in every aspect. Typically, journaling can be finished for hours straight or in a few days. But these journals are different. They hold more weight and memories and are made inconsistently compared to the others. However, the objects in the journals highlight happier times, like when my Mema made Alfredo pasta and used those baking cups. But the journals are also a reminder of how hopeful, difficult, and sad this time was.

The exhibition will be on view from August 1 - October 31 on the 2nd floor Elevate Gallery.

oin us for a free family-friendly event at Navy Pier!

The Design Museum of Chicago's annual outdoor program creates an approachable and surprising celebration of Chicago’s outdoor spaces through a design lens. Field Day is an annual summer event that brings together thousands of Chicagoans celebrate our environment, culture, and outdoor public spaces.

Art Design Chicago has sponsored an incredible Flag Exhibition featuring new work from these designers and artists:

Blake Jones, Bryana Bibbs, Cristina Bottia, Eric O'Malley, Eugene Taylor Brand, Jeff Zimmerman, Jen de los Reyes, Jenny Beorkrem, Kevin Walsh, Krista Wortendyke, Nate Otto, Sickfisher, Tanner Woodford, Taylor Varnado, Lucie van der Elst, Brittany Vibbert, Delisha, All Star Press, Simple Truth, SPAN, Shawnimals, and more! 

Local Vendors, Designers and Cultural Institutions will be showcasing their work at this family friendly event. See the incredible work happening all across Chicago from these great folks:

Connect Gallery
Nest
Intuit
Callie Decor
Rebuilding Exchange
Corepower Yoga
TRACE - Chicago Park District Program
prgrssn llc
Lin Bader
Emilia Art Stuff
GOOSH
CHIRP
You Are Beautiful
Chicago Alternatives Comic Expo (CAKE)
Band of Gold
Soma Gems Jewelry
Chicago Design Archive
Reformed School
Southport Fundamentals
alt_
Plantedby02
Alternatives
Butterscotch Sewing
Monday Coffee
Chicago Graphic Design Club
Depart with Art
Chicago Public Library Maker Space
Trash People
Bronzeville Neighborhood Farm
University of Chicago Arts + Public Life
L1 Cohort
Sandbox Carbon
mHUB
Chicago Adventure Therapy
Forest Preserve of Cook County
AIGA Chicago
South Shore Community Arts Center
Art Design Chicago

-and more!

Times: 
11:00am-12:00pm Free yoga flow from Corepower will kick off and celebrate the day at 11:00am on the south stage.
10:00am-3:00pm face-painting, chalk, bubbles available at the Design Museum's member tent.   

Chicago – Did you know that the brownie was invented here in Chicago? It was first served at the Palmer House Kitchen at the Columbian Exposition World’s Fair in 1893. The story goes that Bertha Palmer, the spouse of the Palmer House Hotel owner requested that their creation be included in the lunch boxes of her women’s board for the Columbian Exposition. 

The city of Chicago holds a special place in the hearts of both art enthusiasts and food connoisseurs alike. The Design Museum of Chicago is thrilled to announce - ‘Chicago Brownie’ a collaboration with Pretty Cool Ice Cream. In a celebration of Chicago’s rich cultural tapestry, five esteemed artists have been commissioned to design custom packaging for the new ‘Chicago Brownie’ pop.

Featuring new work by Bryana Bibbs, Ashley King, Kevin Budnik, Zach Bartz, and Lonnie Edwards.

Pretty Cool and the DMoC teamed up to create an experience that will feel like an exhibition on ice cream packages. At the launch party, join us for a mural unveiling by Lonnie Edwards, meet the rest of the artists, and be the first to try out this new take on a historic classic. 

Join us for a preview of the flavor at Pretty Cool Ice Cream, where the designs by these talented artists will be showcased. Come celebrate with us and enjoy the fusion of art and flavor that pays homage to Chicago’s vibrant cultural scene. 

When: Thursday July 25th

Where: Pretty Cool Ice Cream 

Time: 7:00pm

piecemeal (earthen works in progress) is a gathering of artists and makers exploring what it means to build joyful kinship with the Land. Centering the perspectives of Black folks engaging in these kinship practices, these creatives are learning to heal with the land and arrive at belonging with/in the ecosystem. piecemeal is an experiment in radical honesty and risky play. On this journey, the artists are collaborating with the Land – they are farmers, gardeners, earthkeepers, herbalists, foragers, healers, chefs – turning to ancestral practices, plant wisdom, (re)memory, and more to seek solutions and respite from the violence of environmental racism.

We each look to the Land around us – its soils that nurture life, the plants that nourish us, the waters that make life possible, the air that moves us, and the fire that sustains us – with reverence and intention to be responsible stewards of life.

piecemeal includes works by alexandra antoine, Bryana Bibbs, Courtney Morrison (in collaboration with Atoi Glennette & Evéa), darien hunter golston, Forrest Parks, and saylem mississippi celeste. Each artist offers works in gratitude to our kinship journeys with the land. We honor what we have survived and celebrate the lessons from these experiences. These exaltations take the form of quilts, film, weavings, earthen sculptures, papers, and scents. piecemeal intends to uplift the means and miracles, both the extraordinary and mundane actions, making our continued existence possible beyond violence to our bodies, communities, and ecosystems. Join us in gathering, piece by piece, the means we need to birth worlds beyond the one existing now.

The exhibition is curated by darien hunter golston

On view: April 10 - May 17, 2023: Wed - Thu, 11am-5pm; Fri - Sat, by appt. only

Chicago Artists Coalition is pleased to announce its partnership with Newcity and EXPO CHICAGO. Coinciding with EXPO CHICAGO, CAC will host a centerpiece exhibition of this year's Newcity Breakout Artists. The exhibition will have an opening day on Wednesday, April 10, from 5-8pm. Please reserve your tickets HERE.

Established in 2004, Newcity's annual Breakout Artists issue has become a leading indicator of future success in contemporary art. Of the 150 Breakout Artists before this year, over 40 now have gallery representation, ranging from Hauser & Wirth to numerous Chicago galleries; most of the others, including those who've chosen less commercial paths, show regularly at museums and institutions around the world.

Exhibiting artists include: Luke Agada, Bryana Bibbs, Maria Burundarena, Ashkon Haidari, Robert Chase Heishman, Leasho Johnson, Nyeema Morgan, Natasha Moustache, Ava Wanbli, and Nikko Washington.

About Newcity
Newcity is a media company based in Chicago, founded in 1986 and still owned and operated by its founders, Brian & Jan Hieggelke. Established in 2004, Newcity's annual Breakout Artists issue has become a leading indicator of future success in contemporary art.

About EXPO CHICAGO
EXPO CHICAGO, The International Exposition of Contemporary & Modern Art, features leading international galleries alongside the highest quality platform for contemporary art and culture. In 2019, EXPO CHICAGO hosted more than 135 leading international exhibitors at Navy Pier’s Festival Hall. The exposition draws upon the city’s rich history as a vibrant international cultural destination, while engaging the region’s contemporary art community and collector base.

The city of Chicago has proudly hosted a global contemporary and modern art exposition for nearly forty years and serves as the site of the first international art fair in the Americas. Since its inception, EXPO CHICAGO has remained dedicated to supporting local, regional, and international arts communities, with strong regional support throughout the Greater Midwest, both US coasts, and maintained a growing international commitment from Europe, Asia, and Latin America.

Woven Abstractions invites participants to weave on cardboard looms with traditional and non-traditional materials. Participants will also be asked to create watercolor paintings, drawings, or writings to shred, cut, or rip apart to include in their weavings.  

Teaching Artist Bryana Bibbs is a Chicago-based artist who works at the intersection of textiles, painting, and community-based practices. Bibbs earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Fiber and Material Studies at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is the founder of “The We Were Never Alone Project - A Weaving Workshop for Victims and Survivors of Domestic Violence” and serves on the Surface Design Association’s Education Committee.  

Free with RSVP, Supplies, Light snacks & drinks provided. Open to survivors and those impacted by sexual violence.   RSVP here

Thursday April 4th | 6:30-8:30pm | 4001 N. Ravenswood Ave  

https://www.awakeningsart.org/workshops  

The Chesterton Art Center is pleased to present Changes, a solo exhibition of select Journal Series weavings from 2020 by Bryana Bibbs. The exhibition will be on view from January 8 - February 29, 2024. The opening reception will be on Saturday, February 10th, from 12 - 2 pm.

Exhibiting 79 weavings from the Series in 2020, the exhibition shows how Bibbs documents her personal experiences using various materials, colors, and textures while using repetitive textile techniques. Working intuitively, Bibbs uses materials such as wool, dried paint, flax, recycled sari silk, and degummed silk cocoons within the journals, and she also creates her yarns using the techniques of hand-carding and hand-spinning.

Statement: When I think of how the Series began in 2020, I think of the word Changes because so much was happening for me at that time from the pandemic, personal issues, figuring out what direction I wanted to go in with my practice since having left my job in 2019 to become a full-time artist. A lot was going on. But when I began my daily practice with the Quarantine Series, the Natural Series, and then went back to my love of journaling, this time in a visual way with the Journal Series was and still is exciting. Because the Series holds much meaning, from joyous to sad to frustrating moments, I can't wait to see how the Series evolves over the next ten years.

Instagram: @bryanabibbs, @thewewereneveraloneproject

Websites: bryanabibbs.com, thewewereneveraloneproject.com

Bio:

Bryana Bibbs is a Chicago-based artist who works at the intersection of  textiles, painting, and community-based practices. Bibbs earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Fiber and Material Studies at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is the founder of “The We Were Never Alone Project - A Weaving Workshop for Victims and Survivors of Domestic Violence” and serves on the Surface Design Association’s Education Committee. 

Recent exhibitions include Power Trip, ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL (2020); Evanston Art Center Faculty Exhibition, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL (2020); Intrinsic Color, The Wayback, Chicago, IL (2021); HATCH: I Sense Something Has Changed, Chicago Artists Coalition, Chicago, IL (2021); Cotton: Raw Material & Precious Metaphor,  Room482, Brooklyn, NY (2021) Fluffy Crimes #6, Fluffy Crimes, Chicago, IL (2022); Black Creativity Exhibition, Museum of Science & Industry, Chicago, IL (2022); Art of Surface, Robert T. Wright Community Gallery of Art, Grayslake, IL (2022), Embedded, Praxis Fiber Workshop, Cleveland, OH (2022); Layer, Mark, Repeat, Chicago Artists Coalition, Chicago, IL (2022); (un)disclosed, 1100 Florence, Evanston, IL (2022); Carrying the Thread, The Merchandise Mart - Chicago Textile Week (2022); In the Fray, Bolivar Art Gallery, Lexington, KY (2022); In Good Hands, Purple Window Gallery, Chicago, IL (2022); ANTHEM-X curated by Jared Owens, Malin Gallery, Miami, FL (2022); Numb, Oliva Gallery, Chicago, IL (2023); A More Human Dwelling Place curated by Myron Beasley, George Marshall Store Gallery, York, ME (2023); Sustenance, Portland Public Library, Portland, ME (2023); Places (Edition 1) curated by Debra Kayes, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Chicago, IL (2023). 

Recent awards and residencies include the Chicago Artists Coalition HATCH Residency (2021/22); The Lunder Institute for American Art Residential Fellowship, Waterville, ME (2022); Surf Point Foundation Artist Residency, York, ME (2022); Winter Pentaculum at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN (2023). Recent interviews and reviews include Warp & Weft Magazine, The Coastal Post, The Strategist in New York Magazine, TATTER Journal, UPPERCASE Magazine, New Visionary Magazine, New City Magazine, Artdose Magazine, CBS2 Chicago, and Sixty Inches from Center.

Recent commissions include The Art Institute of Chicago and The Design Museum of Chicago. Collections include Delta Airlines, Inc. and various private collections.

The Chesterton Art Center is pleased to present Changes, a solo exhibition of select Journal Series weavings from 2020 by Bryana Bibbs. The exhibition will be on view from January 8 - February 29, 2024. The opening reception will be on Saturday, January 13, from 12 - 2 pm.

Exhibiting 79 weavings from the Series in 2020, the exhibition shows how Bibbs documents her personal experiences using various materials, colors, and textures while using repetitive textile techniques. Working intuitively, Bibbs uses materials such as wool, dried paint, flax, recycled sari silk, and degummed silk cocoons within the journals, and she also creates her yarns using the techniques of hand-carding and hand-spinning.

Statement: When I think of how the Series began in 2020, I think of the word Changes because so much was happening for me at that time from the pandemic, personal issues, figuring out what direction I wanted to go in with my practice since having left my job in 2019 to become a full-time artist. A lot was going on. But when I began my daily practice with the Quarantine Series, the Natural Series, and then went back to my love of journaling, this time in a visual way with the Journal Series was and still is exciting. Because the Series holds much meaning, from joyous to sad to frustrating moments, I can't wait to see how the Series evolves over the next ten years.

Instagram: @bryanabibbs, @thewewereneveraloneproject

Websites: bryanabibbs.com, thewewereneveraloneproject.com

Bio:

Bryana Bibbs is a Chicago-based artist who works at the intersection of  textiles, painting, and community-based practices. Bibbs earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Fiber and Material Studies at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is the founder of “The We Were Never Alone Project - A Weaving Workshop for Victims and Survivors of Domestic Violence” and serves on the Surface Design Association’s Education Committee. 

Recent exhibitions include Power Trip, ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL (2020); Evanston Art Center Faculty Exhibition, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL (2020); Intrinsic Color, The Wayback, Chicago, IL (2021); HATCH: I Sense Something Has Changed, Chicago Artists Coalition, Chicago, IL (2021); Cotton: Raw Material & Precious Metaphor,  Room482, Brooklyn, NY (2021) Fluffy Crimes #6, Fluffy Crimes, Chicago, IL (2022); Black Creativity Exhibition, Museum of Science & Industry, Chicago, IL (2022); Art of Surface, Robert T. Wright Community Gallery of Art, Grayslake, IL (2022), Embedded, Praxis Fiber Workshop, Cleveland, OH (2022); Layer, Mark, Repeat, Chicago Artists Coalition, Chicago, IL (2022); (un)disclosed, 1100 Florence, Evanston, IL (2022); Carrying the Thread, The Merchandise Mart - Chicago Textile Week (2022); In the Fray, Bolivar Art Gallery, Lexington, KY (2022); In Good Hands, Purple Window Gallery, Chicago, IL (2022); ANTHEM-X curated by Jared Owens, Malin Gallery, Miami, FL (2022); Numb, Oliva Gallery, Chicago, IL (2023); A More Human Dwelling Place curated by Myron Beasley, George Marshall Store Gallery, York, ME (2023); Sustenance, Portland Public Library, Portland, ME (2023); Places (Edition 1) curated by Debra Kayes, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Chicago, IL (2023). 

Recent awards and residencies include the Chicago Artists Coalition HATCH Residency (2021/22); The Lunder Institute for American Art Residential Fellowship, Waterville, ME (2022); Surf Point Foundation Artist Residency, York, ME (2022); Winter Pentaculum at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN (2023). Recent interviews and reviews include Warp & Weft Magazine, The Coastal Post, The Strategist in New York Magazine, TATTER Journal, UPPERCASE Magazine, New Visionary Magazine, New City Magazine, Artdose Magazine, CBS2 Chicago, and Sixty Inches from Center.

Recent commissions include The Art Institute of Chicago and The Design Museum of Chicago. Collections include Delta Airlines, Inc. and various private collections.

Date & Time: Jan 23, 2024 03:00 PM in Central Time (US and Canada)

Description:

The Handweavers Guild of America, Inc.'s (HGA) interview series, Textiles & Tea, takes place every Tuesday at 4 PM (ET). Each week we invite a respected fiber artist in the field today to join us for an hour-long conversation where we will discuss their artwork and their creative journey. We invite you to listen in on the conversation. Make a cup of your favorite tea and join us as we talk about fiber, creativity, inspiration, process and so much more. This episode of Textiles & Tea is generously sponsored by Weavers Guild of the North Shore.