We’re delighted to share that Here I Come to Save the Day, a work by longtime Guild member Karen Searle, is being acquired by a major American art museum. In honor of this accomplishment, please join us in marking this major milestone in Karen’s artistic career and to view Here I Come to Save the Day before it leaves for its new home.

As an artist, Karen creates sculptures and objects in fiber and mixed media, using tools and techniques of domestic textile-making, or ‘women’s work.’ She has exhibited nationally and internationally and participated in residencies at New York Mills Cultural Center, Mendocino Art Center, and Canberra School of Art in Canberra, Australia. Across five decades, Karen has introduced students to a broad range of weaving and fiber arts practices through university programs, conferences, arts centers, and guild programs.

Spurred by her admiration for cultural textiles, Karen has studied textiles in Central America, Europe and Asia and has led textile study tours to Guatemala and Korea. Not long after learning to weave on a backstrap loom, she began her publishing career as co-founder and later sole owner of Dos Tejedoras Fiber Arts Publications, focusing on cultural traditions in textile arts. Karen also co-founded Araña Press, publisher of The Weaver’s Journal which became an award-winning international quarterly. She has edited newsletters for the Weavers Guild of Minnesota and Textile Society of America, and has written over 120 articles, artist profiles, and exhibition reviews for publications in the US and abroad.

A leader in the field, Karen is a founding member of Weave A Real Peace. Her board service spans numerous regional and national arts organizations: Textile Society of America, Handweavers Guild of America, Weave A Real Peace, Textile Center of Minnesota, Weavers Guild of Minnesota, Textile Curatorial Council of Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and Women’s Art Registry of Minnesota. She’s also curated exhibitions, participated on jury panels for international design competitions, and served as a mentor to emerging artists through the Women’s Art Registry of Minnesota. In 2008, she received the Spun Gold Award for lifetime contribution to the Textile Arts from Textile Center.

In her time as a member of the Weavers Guild, Karen has been a fount of leadership, learning and inspiration, wearing many hats. We’re so fortunate to have Karen as a member of our community. Join us at 1pm on August 26 to recognize and celebrate the many accomplishments of this incredible woman!