Geneva Center for the Arts: Common Thread

Design Pool’s Kristen Dettoni and Kristin Crane are excited to be a part of Common Thread: A Fiber Arts Show. Presented by Geneva Center for the Arts, this exhibit highlights the work of eight east coast artists working in fiber. The gallery describes the show as an exhibition focused “on diverse fiber-based work, inspired by nature, the environment, and the physical and spiritual place that we call “home,” as interpreted by each artist. As artists, we are aware of the color, texture, pattern, and forms that we encounter during a walk on the beach, a hike in the woods, in our backyard garden, or on a city street. By observing, listening, drawing, and writing, we begin to discover a “sense of place” in our body, spirit, and the world around us.”

Kristen Dettoni attended the opening and presented an artist talk on the inspiration behind her Coded series. Kristen has often said that she doesn’t have a separation between her artwork and her industry work. For her, it all comes from the same well of creativity. Her original punchneedle pieces exhibited expand on the codebreaking concept she explored in The Cryptology Collection. During work at her artist residency in Snowfarm, Kristen spent time creating her own code and using it to design a series of original art pieces. It was exciting for Kristen to visit Geneva, Illinois, where Elizebeth Smith Friedman got her first job codebreaking at Riverbank, and share with the community this fun bit of local history that inspired so much of Kristen’s recent work.

Our Director of Marketing & Communications, Kristin Crane, also has work on display. Her pieces focus on her connection to her home and environment, particularly the beach. During the pandemic lockdown, she spent time exploring the Rhode Island coast and found space and peace there. In this exhibition, she has four, small handwoven pieces made using found objects and natural dyes to create a sense of place. She also has two larger, finely woven ikat pieces dyed with indigo. Lastly, she wove and dyed a piece inspired by Kauai.

Here is a sneak peek inside Geneva Center for the Arts.

Additional artists featured in the exhibition are Paula Stebbins Becker, Lili Gilbert, Paul Lewandowski, Nancy Machado, Wanda Miglus, and Cathy Wilkerson.

If you are local to Geneva, Illinois, we hope you’ll visit the gallery to see their work in person. The show runs from October 4 – December 10, 2022. In addition to the exhibition, Geneva Center for the Arts has programming inspired by the show. The full schedule is available on their website. If you visit the show, we’d love to hear what you think! Let us know in the comments or tag us on Instagram.

Kristin and Kristen also have work featured in two other shows in Rhode Island. Details are here.