OKOTOKS - The Foothills’ most historic art gallery is exhibiting works by an equally historic artisan guild.
Entwined & Entangled is a body of work by the Sheep Creek Weavers Guild, now on display at the Leighton Art Centre (LAC) through to Aug. 27.
“The pieces cover almost all of the fibre arts media — I can’t think of anything that’s not in there — and a considerable range of technical skills to primarily,” said Lyn Pflueger, the guild’s secretary.
“On one hand, there are beautifully immaculately done tea towels, and, on the other, there are pieces like pictures or small tapestry pieces which would occupy the same place in art as painting.”
Of the 88 members making up one of the largest fibre guilds in Alberta, over half contributed works to the exhibition.
“Some of the pieces were done by individuals, and then we have a number of sub-groups in the guild, so weaving, stitching,” Pflueger said.
“The guild started off as preserving traditional skills of spinning and weaving and throughout the years we’ve attracted people from all sorts of fibre arts, so we have a really wide and diverse range of fibre arts now.
“Still the same ethos, but a much broader base of media and creative expression."
Pflueger got tangled up with the guild over 45 years ago, and recalled the common thread they share with the Leighton since its incorporation as a society in 1976.
In the late 1980s, the Banff Centre closed out its weaving program, giving its looms to the LAC.
“The Sheep Creek Weavers had just been incorporated and one of the weavers was hired to teach weaving at the Leighton Centre, and she would always recommend her students join the guild,” Pflueger said.
Over the years, the LAC required the weaving studio space for its educational programming, so it was agreed that the Sheep Creek Weavers would house and maintain the looms elsewhere — now at the Millarville Racing and Agriculture Society’s hall — and the Leighton would retain ownership.
“We’re very parallel in our development,” Pflueger said.
“I actually taught Barbara Leighton in a spinning and weaving class, so I have a real feeling of personal connection to the Leighton Centre, and so the exhibition opening was a really wonderful and emotional experience – for all of us.
“It’s beautifully displayed; the Leighton Centre has done a really wonderful job, so the exhibition is the work, plus the curation.”
While Pflueger won’t pick favourites, she recommended seeking out a certain piece.
“One of our members did an almost life-sized puppet of Barbara Leighton, and it’s just fabulous,” she said.
For more information about the exhibit, visit leightoncentre.org; for information about the weavers, visit sheepcreekweavers.ca.
