The Gather 2025 Artist Advisory Board is thrilled to invite you to our exciting Kick-off Symposium: 

Common Cause in Fiber Art: Connection and Care. 
This all-day event will look at the interconnection between fiber art and social issues.

Panel 1: Stories of African American Persistence and Healing

New England artists Susi Ryan and Christle Rawlins-Jackson investigate and document the enduring impact of colonialism and combine this research with their own contemporary experiences to tell eye opening, vibrant, compelling tales of mending and healing. Both artists maintain a solo practice, work in collaboration with other artists, and continue their steadfast commitment to communities of tenacity. They will share their collaborative processes and leadership model as they present individual and group projects such as “Vessels of Slavery: Forget Me Not” at the Cape Ann Museum of Art and the African American quilt guild Sisters In Stitches Joined By The Cloth.

Panel 2: The Gathering Storm: Haptic Forms of Resistance

Panelists will discuss their fiber and fiber-adjacent art practices, the role of the haptic in maintaining mental and physical health in fragmented times, and the role of fiber art in resisting oligarchy. How do we as artists and enthusiasts take care of ourselves in times of crisis? How do we use hand-work to nourish our souls and calm our nervous systems in the eye of the storm? Samantha Fields of Boston, and Patricia Miranda and Michael Sylvan Robinson of New York will share their melding of traditional and contemporary fiber methods to explore craft, labor, class, violence, and gender.

Community Building:

Integral to all of the panelists’ practices is a deep commitment to developing, building, and nurturing artists. Panel artists will discuss their cultivation and sustenance of artist communities. Following each panel presentation, attendees will meet in facilitated small groups to process learning, share experiences, identify commonalities, and form relationships. 

All artists and art enthusiasts are welcome to attend. The day will begin with a casual makers breakfast and continue with panel presentations and small group engagement circles that will provide participants with ample time to connect and reflect on issues important in contemporary fiber art such as:
How do we tackle structures of value, access, and experience in the art world ?
How do we support the role of storytelling and healing in fiber arts?
How do we broaden our tent of inclusion?