It is well known that quilting and creativity are the common thread connecting people from around the globe to Paducah, a designated UNESCO Creative City of Crafts and Folk Art anchored by the National Quilt Museum and a thriving fiber arts community. Though the National Quilt Museum opened its doors in 1991, Paducah’s fiber arts community is one that began to flourish around 2005 as likeminded creatives, like Aynex Mercado who moved to Paducah with the City’s Artist Relocation Program, began to seek the fellowship of other artists who were working outside the scope of traditional quilt designs.

Out of those early gatherings in Autumn 2005, a community of textile and fiber artists emerged and continues to gather once a month for Potluck and Show and Tell. Other than a Facebook page, there is no formal structure to this organization—no membership, no dues, no mission. The Paducah Fiber Artists (who hail from Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana and Missouri) are woven together by their mutual respect and appreciation for the creative process. Their longevity is the result of an openness to new ideas and concepts, the mentoring of emerging textile artists, and a warm welcome to artists from around the world whose occasional visits bring fresh inspiration and connectivity to the global fiber arts scene.

Over the past 13 years, the Paducah Fiber Artists have showcased a wide variety of textile artforms each month, including wearables, weavings, basketry and much more. “NOW & THEN” showcases the journey, the friendships, the influences, and the individual styles of each of the artists—including the early founders, friends who have moved away, and the regulars and recently arrived artists of today. Whether near or far, now or then, this intertwined and ever evolving network of talented individuals will forever be the “Paducah” Fiber Artists.

Exhibit is curated by Rosemarie Steele.

Quilt: Fractured Moons #2 by Patty Van Dorrin