January 13, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Amelia Wiggins, Educator, Public Programs
409.886.ARTS (2787)
Dr. Alice Zrebiec to Speak on American Tapestry artist Lorentz Kleiser in Orange
ORANGE, Texas, January 13, 2010 – Dr. Alice Zrebiec, an authority on textile arts, will give a special presentation on artist Lorentz Kleiser on Friday, January 22, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. at the Lutcher Theater, 707 W. Main Avenue. The talk, Making Tapestry an American Art: The Legacy of Lorentz Kleiser, is in association with the Stark Museum of Art’s exhibition, Entwined across the Ages: Illuminated Manuscripts and Tapestries. Following Dr. Zrebiec’s talk, a reception will be held at the Stark Museum of Art, 712 Green Avenue. The event is free to the public.
Originally inspired by European masterpieces, artist Lorentz Kleiser (1879-1963) turned to American literature, history, flora and fauna as subjects for tapestries designed for public buildings as well as private homes. Founder of the Edgewater Tapestry Looms in New Jersey, Kleiser was instrumental in introducing tapestry to the general public both through his work and his nationwide lectures.
Amelia Wiggins, Educator for Public Programs at the Stark Museum, looks forward to the presentation, saying, “Local residents will be interested to know that Kleiser had a connection to Orange. At the invitation of H.J. Lutcher Stark, the artist lived in Shangri-La gardens for a time and painted there. We are so pleased to have Dr. Zrebiec present Kleiser’s role in developing tapestry as an art form in America.”
Alice Zrebiec is a curatorial consultant based in Santa Fe, New Mexico and serves as Consulting Curator of Textile Art at the Denver Art Museum. She previously was the curator of textiles in the department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. Dr. Zrebiec received her doctorate from the Institute of Fine Arts – New York University. Her dissertation, American Tapestry Manufacturers – 1893-1933, examined the work of Lorentz Kleiser’s Edgewater Tapestry Looms, among other weaving studios. Dr. Zrebiec has lectured internationally and published widely on diverse aspects of textiles and tapestries.
Entwined across the Ages: Illuminated Manuscripts and Tapestries features the Stark Museum of Art’s collection of medieval illuminated manuscripts exhibited within a setting of twentieth-century wall tapestries that were inspired by arts from the medieval period. Entwined across the Ages highlights the variety and richness of manuscript illustrations in the Books of Hours. It also reveals how the medieval arts influenced artist Lorentz Kleiser whose Edgewater Tapestry Company revived the art of tapestry weaving in the modern era. This exhibition is on view through January 30, 2010.
Located at 712 Green Avenue in Orange, Texas, the Stark Museum of Art is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am – 5 pm. Admission is free. Group tours are available by appointment. For more information call 409.886.ARTS (2787) or visit www.starkmuseum.org.
Dr. Alice Zrebiec
Lorentz Kleiser (1879-1963), artist, Edgewater Tapestry Looms
(founded c. 1913)
Madrigal, c. 1930
woven with silk and wool; vegetable dyes
Stark Museum of Art, Orange, Texas
81.1.1
About the Stark Museum of Art
The Stark Museum of Art focuses on the stunning land, the dramatic people and the diverse wildlife of the American West. Paintings, sculpture and prints interpret the West from nineteenth century frontier artists to the twentieth century artistic colonies in New Mexico. Artists include John James Audubon, Frederic Remington, and Charles Marion Russell.
The Museum also features a significant collection of American Indian objects, including baskets, pottery, clothing and weavings. Other permanent collections in the Museum include the complete porcelain American Bird Series by Dorothy Doughty and the only complete series of The United States in Crystal, a collection of crystal urns produced by Steuben Glass to depict the 50 states and the Union.
The Stark Museum of Art is a program of the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation, a private operating foundation, whose other programs include the Frances Ann Lutcher Theater for the Performing Arts, Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center, and The W.H. Stark House.
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