Wyoming Arts Council

Fiber Arts Festival set for Aug. 23-25 in Laramie

Featured News | August 9, 2013

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Llamas will be walking city streets and kids printing fabric using raw vegetables on the weekend of Aug. 23-25.

And that’s just for starters.

Thirty fiber artists from southeast Wyoming will gather in downtown Laramie for the First Annual Laramie Fiber Festival. Activities include workshops, hands-on activities, demonstrations, exhibits and sales. Representatives from ranches and farms that raise fiber animals will demonstrate how they use their animal fibers to create felt, yarn and other products.

There will be plenty of art to admire and plenty to purchase, from Western-style hats made of llama and wool to men’s hand-woven vests, hand-painted silk scarves, braided horse gear and “upcycled” art. For those who do fiber arts, there will be fiber straight off the animal’s back to hand-dyed and hand-spun by Wyoming artisans and suppliers.

The festival is sponsored by Wyoming Fiber Trails and its parent organization, Wyoming Women’s Business Center, based in Laramie. The Fiber Trails project is designed to identify fiber artists in the state and promote the fiber arts as an important part of Wyoming’s culture and heritage. The project is supported by grants from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, Wyoming Arts Council and the Small Business Administration.

Additional sponsors for the festival include Laramie Main Street Alliance and Downtown Laramie fiber arts businesses Cowgirl Yarn, Jeny Originals, WOW Gallery and First Interstate Bank.

An information booth will be set up at the downtown farmers market, Fri. afternoon, Aug. 23, to provide directions and times of specific activities.  “There are over 40 activities and demonstrations,” said Rosemary Bratton, director, Wyoming Women’s Business Center.  “Fiber arts is often under-rated because so much of it has been automated. But when you see the creativity and skill involved, you begin to understand just how much of an art it really is.”

A ranch trip to Lazy H Llama Ranch (about 15 minutes from Laramie) will acquaint visitors with the Hubbell family’s llama operation and Kelly Hubbell’s art studio. For information on details, contact Lori Kirk at Cowgirl Yarn. Participants will leave at 1 p.m. and return no later than 4 p.m.

A reception and opening of a Wyoming fiber artist show will be held 6:30-8:30 p.m. at WOW Gallery, 211 S. First St., and is open to the public.

An Art Quilt Show & Sale will be held Sat.-Sun., at the Ivinson Mansion, with an informal evening reception Sat., 6:30 p.m. It is sponsored by Laramie Art Quilters and includes exhibits on art quilting techniques.

Among the demonstrators are WAC roster artists Mary Maynard, Laramie, nationally recognized tatter, and Georgia Rowswell, Cheyenne, mixed media fiber artist.

A mini-workshop to help artists improve their business and marketing skills will be conducted by Chuck Egnascek, education coordinator, Works of Wyoming, Aug. 25, 10-11 p.m., at WOW Gallery. To reserve a spot at the free workshop: WOW Gallery, 307-460-3304.

For a full list of activities and artists: www.wyomingfibertrails.org.

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