Exhibition Only

Shirley Kay, India Hayford, and Carole Rinard after the award ceremony at the 2008 EGA National Seminar in Louisville, KY.  India is a fine artist and teacher who lives in Casper, WY.  Carole is currently Judge of judges within national EGA.

                Albuquerque Fiber Art Fiesta is over for the year.  It is held biannually on Thursday through Saturday of the Memorial Day weekend.  This year’s was as fun, educational, shopping worthy, and user-friendly as ever.

                In 2013 the next Fiesta will have some changes to it.  We in Turquoise Trail Chapter and in Sandia Mountains Chapter have to get together and write our ideas down, to codify them into guidelines for us to follow in succeeding years.

                One of the changes that we two chapters will have to make is to have a part of our exhibit that is non-judged.  This has been mandated by the AFAF committee (I am told--I have not seen the actual paper on this), along with several other points of action.

                My problem is this:  national EGA has a certain high reputation to maintain for excellence in needlework.  Within EGA, I am told by my friend Carole Rinard, pieces that are for exhibition only and not for judging also must go through the jurying process.  This means that all pieces must conform to that high standard.  Only-for-exhibition pieces are for the chapter members to show off their pieces that have won national honors and prizes, for instance a Bobby Pilling Award winner would be an exhibition piece, an EGA National Exhibit ribbon winner, or even an historical piece of quality work that has been passed down through a family would be for exhibition only.  Pieces that have already won more prestigious prizes than AFAF gives would be what might be shown.  It would specifically not be for people to exhibit poorly done pieces, old pieces, and damaged pieces.  

Shirley Kay, Carole Rinard, and Karen Schueler at Glorieta, NM, the Rocky Mountain Region Seminar in 2006.  Karen is the finest and best fiber artist I know.  Carole is a fine artist herself, but is also a great judge of needlework

                Why would someone not want a piece she had done not be judged?  A nationally certified judge, whether from the EGA, the American Needlepoint Guild, or from NAN would write down valuable comments for the stitchers on how to improve their work, what was good about the current piece, and what was maybe not so good. 

EGA, ANG, and NAN are guilds in the medieval sense of the meaning of guild.  People would bind themselves to a guild to uphold the highest standards in the land.  Work that was not up to guild standards would not be sold (or shown) under the guild name.  Above all, these national guilds are teaching bodies.  We teach only to the highest standards.

AFAF is the place to show our very best stuff.  As the Fiesta grows and gets a wider reputation for excellence, this only helps the standards of our chapters within the guilds.

So I am a little concerned that AFAF rules and regulations may run into and conflict with EGA guidelines for exhibiting.  We will see what is going to happen in the next two years before the next Fiesta.  Hopefully we can get things straightened out.