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Lower Adirondack
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Celebrate Life: American and Japanese Hooked RugsThis international invitational exchange of hooked rugs was organized by Marilyn Bottjer and Kei Kobayashi, both well-known rug hooking teachers. CelebrateLife was shown at the MetLife Building in New York City in December of 2000, then traveled to Japan where it was shown at the Toyko Electric Power Company Gallery in the winter of 2001. LARAC’s Lapham Gallery is the last stop in the traveling exhibition’s itinerary. Several North Country residents have work in the exhibition, including Jule Marie Smith of Saratoga County, and Roz Brady, Sue Lawler, and Dick LaBarge of Washington County. Rug hooking has been called “America’s one indigenous folk art,” stated the organizers of the exhibition. Importation of jute burlap from the East Indies around 1850 provided an ideal and economical base fabric for the strips of fabric. As more commercial carpets became affordable, the popularity of hooked rugs waned, although cottage industries kept the craft alive. "Rug hooking is enjoying a great resurgence in popularity with many makers returning to the early ingenuity and resourcefulness of original rug makers... The contemporary rug hooker enjoys creating original designs and dyeing colors specifically for that design, and while many are still used as rugs, as many are art forms to hang on the wall," continued the organizers in a written statement. An Adirondack theme rug, Forever Wild, designed and hooked by Marilyn Bottjer, and a footstool with hooked covering by Sue Lawler have been donated to LARAC by the organizers of the exhibition. Viewers will have a change to participate in a drawing to win the beautiful items. Click here to get information on the drawings. These and more are currently on display at Lapham Gallery.
Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council |
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