Fiberworks Center for the Textile Arts

Fiberworks Center for the Textile Arts

Company type	Non-profit arts organization
Industry	Textile arts education and exhibition
Founded	1973
Founder	Gyöngy Laky
Defunct	1987
Headquarters	Berkeley, California , United States
Area served	International
Products	Textile arts education, exhibitions, symposiums

Fiberworks Center for the Textile Arts was a globally acknowledged institution dedicated to textile arts, situated at 1940 Bonita Avenue in Berkeley, California.

Overview

Established in 1973 by the Hungarian-born artist Gyöngy Laky, Fiberworks focused on innovative and modern textile art forms. During the early 1970s, when textile art received minimal attention from commercial galleries and museums, its gallery played a crucial role in presenting this medium.

The center’s core activities included a year-round Community School, a Special Studies program, and accredited Bachelor and Master of Fine Arts degrees offered through a collaboration with Lone Mountain College of San Francisco. The faculty, visiting lecturers, exhibitors, and students featured notable personalities such as Louise Allrich, Joanne Segal Brandford, Lia Cook, Mildred Howard, David Ireland, Gyöngy Laky, Jack Lenor Larsen, Nance O’Banion, Morgan O’Hara, Ed Rossbach, Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada, and Katherine Westphal.

Impact

The international prominence of Fiberworks was underscored by its organization of the 1978 Symposium on Contemporary Textile Art, which drew distinguished artists and scholars from around the world. This symposium is regarded as one of the most significant textile arts conferences of the 1970s. Esteemed artists such as Magdalena Abakanowicz and Sheila Hicks were featured as keynote presenters.

After operating successfully for fifteen years, Fiberworks ceased operations in December 1987 due to financial difficulties.

External links

• Fiberworks Center for the Textile Arts records at the Smithsonian Archives of American Art