The Southern Fiber Artists (SFA) were formed in the 2014-2015 timeframe as the result of a spark of inspiration by Brooksville, MS, art quilter Julia Graber who hoped to find like-minded individuals interested in creating outside the traditional bed quilt.  Fiber art is a textile art that uses natural or synthetic fibers, such as yarn, fabric, or felt, to create practical or decorative objects. Fiber art can also include other components, such as beads, string, ribbon, or silk.  It has always been the goal of the members to share their art form with the public. Besides local, national, and international quilt shows, members have exhibited at different venues including colleges, museums, cultural centers and galleries. We even have members of the group whose profiles and work are included in the Mississippi issue of the national publication Quiltfolk Magazine. 

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SFA has a history of challenging its members to make art pieces around a specified theme.  After not meeting in person during Covid, we were looking for a new challenge in 2022 to jumpstart our creativity.  Since our membership includes artists primarily from Mississippi, we decided upon the theme of Mississippi for our challenge.  The challenge began with 11 artists each taking a letter from the word Mississippi and making a quilt of the same size and font with anything related to the state.  That resulted in a quilt approximately 16 feet wide which spells Mississippi. 

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After that challenge was completed, we decided to expand the theme and make 18x20 inch or 16x25 inch quilts that depict some aspect of the state.  Our hope was to represent all the areas of the State with an art piece, which would bring attention to both art quilting and Mississippi.  Ideas and subjects are plentiful.  There is no way to completely encompass the rich heritage of the entire state, but we were able to find so much to be proud of to highlight in a quilt.  Because there is so much about the state to highlight, we asked other artists to join us.  We invited youth, non-quilters with a background in art, and traditional quilters who were willing to give art quilting a chance to join us.  We found topics to make pieces that represent the people, places and things that our large and small towns across the state are known for.  We have highways represented such as the Natchez Trace and the Blues Trail.  There are musicians such as Sam Cook, BB King, Jimmy Buffett, and Elvis.   

 

There are artists represented such as Alice Mosley, Walter Anderson, George Ohr, and Jim Henson.  There are familiar buildings represented such as the MUW Clocktower, USM's Administration building with the iconic domed roof, the beautiful Mendenhall Courthouse, and the Ruins of Windsor.  Then there are the watermelons, blueberries and peaches.  The Mississippi Gulf Coast is well represented uncovering many little-known facts such as Long Beach being the Radish capital of the world and Wiggins being the Pickle Capital.  It's funny that we didn't have more overlapping topics than we do. I would love to mention all the topics and areas represented, but there is no way to do that.  To date we have accepted approximately 100 of these quilts.

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Our most recent addition to the collection is a large (80+ inch square) collaborative piece which was the brainchild of Long Beach artist Charlotte Timmons.  The piece is concentric circles with center of the piece being the Mississippi Quarter (the coin) and grows from that to the iconic scenes from Jackson, Vicksburg, Biloxi, and Tupelo.  From there it expands to a circle of houses; some fanciful and some actual places in Mississippi.  The quilt features work from most of our membership who contributed to the piece.  The quilting, also done by Charlotte, must be seen in person to appreciate the artistry and workmanship. ​

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Contact Derek Aaron for more information.