SEQUIM — A world-renowned artist who works with a humble material — felt — to fashion eye-popping creations will tell her story this weekend at the Dungeness Schoolhouse.
Janice Arnold, a feltmaker who has helped costume the “dragonettes” in Julie Taymor’s show “Grendel” and who built “Chroma Passage,” an enchanted walkway in the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Art Museum, is set to appear in the schoolhouse at 2781 Towne Road north of Sequim, at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Arnold, a 2009 Artist Trust Fellowship winner, plans a two-part presentation. One part will highlight her travel and research into traditional feltmaking in Central Asia and Mongolia, while the other will delve into her personal path as an artist.
Behind-the-scenes
Arnold will offer art lovers a behind-the-scenes view of the processes that went into her most notable projects and installations, promised Renee Mizar, spokeswoman for the Museum & Arts Center. The MAC is the sponsor of Arnold’s visit.
Admission to the afternoon with Arnold is $8 for MAC members and $10 for nonmembers. Registration is not required, and patrons can pay at the door
Mizar is urging people to arrive at least 15 minutes before 1 p.m. to ensure they get seats.
“We’re really looking forward to this event and have already been hearing a lot of word-of-mouth buzz about it,” she said.
Arnold also will mix into her discussion some raw fibers and a few finished pieces so audience members can enjoy the tactile nature of her materials.
“The current high-tech world, with its synthetic surroundings, has taken us far from the natural world” and the tradition of making things by hand, Arnold has said.
‘Starved’
“We are starved for natural textures, fibers and irregular forms. I believe wool felt connects us with our natural history in a way no other fabric can.”
Arnold, who is based in Grand Mound, has worked both alone and together with other artists on large-scale felt designs for Cirque du Soleil, the Los Angeles Opera, the Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York City and Nordstrom Corp.
“The MAC is seeking new avenues of education and outreach,” said Executive Director DJ Bassett, adding that he looks forward to bringing other artists of Arnold’s caliber to Sequim for discussions of art and life.
To find out more about the MAC’s arts-related programs and exhibitions, visit www.macsequim.org or phone 360-683-8110. For a detailed look at Arnold’s works, visit her website at www.jafelt.com.
________
Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
