For the past two years the Champaign Urbana Spinners and Weavers Guild has been working on an exhibit with the Spurlock Museum in Urbana. I chose an artifact from the museum collection – an auger shell scraper from the island of Yap – to inspire three skeins of yarn. It was important to me that there be yarn on display – I knew other guild members would weave, knit, or felt. I also collaborated with another member of the guild and spun yarn that she used for weft in a pair of shawls.
At yesterday’s guild meeting, we showed our work to other members. We also had individual interviews which the museum staff filmed to use in a video which will accompany the exhibit.
We will be delivering our artworks in late June so the museum staff will have about a year to design the layout, build cases, make labels, and do the publicity before the exhibit opens. It has been an interesting experience to design yarn in this way and to learn about what is involved in putting together a museum exhibit.
