Maybe it’s the salty air or the brooding, moody weather, or maybe it’s the landscape, picturesque and rugged. Whatever it is, there’s something about the Oregon Coast that draws fiber artists. And now, they’re about to show off their art in a four-gallery exhibit opening Saturday, Jan. 11, in Newport.

“Our quilt guild, the Oregon Coastal Quilters Guild, has anywhere from 150 to 200 members,” said Susan Cronenwett, a quilt artist showing in the Imagine It, Stitch It exhibit. “And that’s just quilting. Maybe in all the rain, we like to sew.”

Fiber Fest opens with a reception for all four exhibits from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday in the Newport Visual Arts Center. The work of 17 fiber artists will be on display through March 1, with classes offered throughout the run.

The idea of a fiber festival has been in the works for years, said Christina Carlsen, education and outreach manager for the visual arts center. “There is a pretty strong foundation of fiber artists here in our coastal area. It’s kind of surprising how much there is around here and how varied it is.”

Artists in the exhibit will show work created from felt, yarn, fabric, grasses and ferns, upholstery, and all manner of reclaimed materials.         

“I think fiber artists are very resourceful,” Carlsen said. “They are taking material that other artists wouldn’t have thought of using and creating something with it. I think artists in general are pretty scrappy people, but the fiber artists are even more so. They are a think-outside-the-box kind of group. Rebecca Hooper’s recycled fishing rope weavings are the perfect example. They are just a very resourceful bunch.”

Woven Worlds in the center’s Runyan Gallery features the woven fiber works of seven professional weavers — three men and four women — including the tapestries of Vince Zettler, a weaver of 60 years who helped organize the festival. “My weavings have evolved from textural tapestries to transparencies,” Zettler said, adding that all his weavings in the show are made of brocaded gauze. Two of Zettler’s works will feature subjects from Lincoln County: a 4-foot-wide by 10-foot-tall weaving of the Siletz River, which is on loan from the Benton County Museums, and a recent weaving of Hart’s Cove on Cascade Head.

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Carlsen describes Zettler’s work as taking everyday material and “turning it into an art form. Vince takes pieces that have been used forever — furniture or rugs — and takes those same fibers from things we take for granted and makes these large pieces of artwork that are just beautiful. It’s just wonderful to take these everyday objects and make them into something more.”

The basketry of Bud Lane and Chantele Rilatos, both members of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, are also featured in the exhibit. In a 2024 interview with Oregon ArtsWatch, Rilatos said, “This is a lifelong learning process. The Siletz basketry is more than a traditional art form, it’s survival for our people from ceremonial to utilitarian baskets. Yes, they are made beautifully and are a form of art, but they go beyond that. We say our baskets have a spirit.” 

Fiber Flair in the upstairs gallery highlights wearable art, botanical prints, and “contemporary assemblage creations,” while Abelina Pablo’s Guatemalan woven textiles will be displayed in the COVAS Showcase.

In the Olive Street Gallery, located in the nearby Performing Arts Center, Imagine It, Stitch It features contemporary quilted fabrications by five artists, curated by Janet Webster. “Quilts can be whimsical, abstract, realistic, modern, traditional, and most of all, works of art,” Webster said. “These five artists use fabric as their medium in very different and individual ways.”

Susan Cronenwett crafted her first quilt 50 years ago when she was 13 and now sells her quilt patterns to buyers all over the world. Her Fiber Fest quilts include Evolution, winner of a National Quilter’s Award of Merit, and Ode to Picasso. “There’s so many different types of quilts, from utilitarian and functional bed quilts to art quilts, using fabric as the medium to create something new and different,” Cronenwett said. “It’s almost like painting with fabric.”

Along with the exhibits, Fiber Fest will offer classes, including a class led by Zettler on fiber art design and scaling up, an alterations class led by Marie-Lise Best, and demonstrations by Abelina Pablo, Bonnie Powell, and Susan Jones. Emy Daniels will teach visible mending classes.

“Visible mending is a trend showing off that you’ve patched up your clothes,” said Daniels. “It’s about keeping your clothes alive and keeping them out of the landfill. It can be as simple as using a contrasting color, so it is obvious that you have taken the time to fix it. Or you could use the same color and hide it. It could be more elaborate, like flowers or birds. It just takes more time.”

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Daniels teaches two classes, one for mending woven pieces, like jeans or T-shirts, and one for repairing knit items. Students are asked to bring something to mend. Daniels will provide fabric for practicing stitches.

“This is about embracing slow fashion vs. fast fashion,” she said. “Slow fashion is conscientiously picking up limited things to wear, things you keep longer and wear throughout the year. Fast fashion is buying things seasonally and wearing them a short time. A lot of people are into fast fashion. This is bringing awareness to the idea that you don’t have to be that way.”