AMERICA’S SOCIAL FIBERS: MOBILITY AND MIGRATION IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE BEFORE 1492

Traveling exhibition Locations:

• Sans MOCO Gallery & Atelier, Greenville, PA. July 17th - August 27th 2021.

• Department of Art History, Borland Building, University Park, PA. Oct. 9th 2021 - Jan. 28th 2022.

• 3 Dots Downtown, State College, PA. February 8th - 26th 2022.

• Bellefonte Art Museum, Bellefonte, PA. March 4th - 27th 2022.

Exhibition Summary:

America’s Social Fibers: Mobility and Migration in the Western Hemisphere Before 1492 visualizes Indigenous American uses of fiber arts in the expansive migration and social cohesion efforts of pre-Hispanic empires. It includes scaled replicas of textiles that were vital to Inca and Aztec colonization tactics. Each work underscores how these empires unified diverse cultural and geographical expanses through the fugitive medium. Imitations of fiber monuments which often do not survive foregrounds the endurance of their techniques and the persistence of human migration as a fundamental structure within the social fabric of the Americas. 

Press Coverage:

• Elliott, Maria. “America by the Strings”, The Record-Argus. Saturday-Sunday (July 24-25th), 2021. Pp. A1, A5.

• Ridge, Madison. “Art History Grad Student Explores ‘Social Fibers’ in Downtown Exhibit," Penn State College of Arts and Architecture News, 8 Feb. 2022. https://www.psu.edu/news/arts-and-architecture/story/art-history-grad-student-explores-social-fibers-downtown-exhibit/

SANS MOCO Gallery & Atelier. Greenville, PA. July 17th-August 27th, 2021.

Department of Art History, Borland Building, University Park, PA. Oct. 9th 2021 - Jan. 28th 2022.

3 Dots Downtown, State College, PA. February 8th - 26th, 2022.

Bellefonte Art Museum. Bellefonte, PA. March 4th - 27th, 2022.