Thousand Islands Arts Center, Home of the Handweaving Museum, Clayton NY, the cultural center of the 1000 Islands

The Museum Collection
The Handweaving Museum and Arts Center holds a collection of 1,400 textiles from around the world, dating from ancient Egyptian times to present day. The focus of the collection is on 20th century American handwoven textiles. The museum keeps a specialized library of 1,600 books on textiles, textile making, and associated social and economical histories. It also holds an archives which consists of documents pertaining to 20th century American handweaving.

The Textiles
Our major collections include works by 20th century American handweavers Emily Belding, Berta Frey, Lucille Landis, Barbara Pascal, Marjorie Ruth Ross, Gladys Smith, Mary Snyder, Elizabeth TerLouw, Irene Wood, and Myra Young. All of these weavers are nationally and internationally recognized authorities on handweaving. They have been active as artists, lecturers, hands-on instructors,scholars,and authors.

Other important artifacts come from handweavers Klara Cherepov, Alice Mattell, Theo Moorman, Evelyn Neher, Lurene K. Stone, and Nell Znamierowski.

The Archives
The archives are a significant part of the museum. The archives hold records pertaining to American 20th century handweaving. Most of these records concern the careers of specific handweavers who lived and worked in the U.S. The records include photographs, letters, journals, teaching notes, self-published booklets, business records and scrapbooks. Alternate media items include sound recordings, video tapes and image CDs.

Samples From The Textile Collection

Untitled,
by Theo Moorman(1907 - 1990)
English - Yorkshire
Art Hanging, 1948-52
22.5" x 16.5" (56cm x 42 cm)
Linen, wool, novelty yarn
Theo Moorman Technique
Gift of Lucille Landis, 1992

This woven art hanging was donated by Lucille Landis in 1992. Lucille was a friend of the art weaver, Theo Moorman. The hanging was woven using a technique devised by Theo Moorman, and bearing her name, the "Theo Moorman Technique."

The technique is designed so that the ground wefts, running from selvedge to selvedge, lie at the back of areas of more prominant yarns used for inlay. This means the ground wefts are hidden,leaving the color inly highly visible. The inlayed wefts form the overall design with density and richness of color and texture.

This particular piece has two ground weaves, a top layer, hand stitched to the bottom layer. These layers were woven with different warps, the larger one spaced and with slightly beaten weft. The smaller top layer has tightly set warp; it is beaten to form a balanced plain weave. Pattern weft uses a variety of smooth and textured yarns, probably hand-dyed. Theo Moorman did not follow a draft, but sketched her ideas and created her works as she wove them.

Skyline
by Berta Frey (1898-1972)

American - Texas
Drapery material (detail), 1950
90" x 37" (228cm x 99cm)
Silk
Summer and Winter on an old coverlet draft
Gift of Nancy and J.T. Carlisle,1972.

Berta Frey learned to weave while working as an Occupational Therapist at a South Carolina veteran's hospital following World War I. She soon devoted her time to handweaving and set up a studio in New York City where she taught and wove projects to commission.

Berta Frey was one of the best known teachers and taught workshops in 40 states. Her curriculum notes fill 12 thick binders. She published widely-48 articles for Handweaver and Craftsman alone. These articles are as popular and useful now as when she published them, between 1951 and 1970. Her book Designing and Drafting for Handweavers is still very popular and can be found anywhere in the US and Canada and from New Zealand to Australia. Wherever she went she gave so much of herself that she was loved and respected.

Description:
The piece is a section of drapery material to be produced for "upper Manhattan's apartments." Two silk yarns have been used in the construction. Warp and weft were woven in soft, natural silk. Pattern weft is a nubby, overtwisted yarn, rust color. The material has good drape; is of medium weight. Only the thick areas of the pattern weft reveal the shine of silk; the overall appearance is supple and elegant. 42epi.

Elizabeth Dodge Haxall Collection
Elizabeth Dodge Haxall was one of the founding trustees and an active volunteer for The Handweaving Museum and Arts Center. Mrs. Haxall generously donated a collections of textiles from around the world, which she had acquired through family travel. Mrs. Haxall's purpose in making this donation was to enrich the community of Clayton with objects from other cultures. These lovely and unusual textiles tell the story the life, values, beauty and workmanship of peoples from other places and times. For more information, e-mail us at info@tiartscenter.org.