FLORIDA HUMANITIES SUPPORTS EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING DURING THREADING THE CITY, A SERIES OF FIBER ART EXHIBITS ACROSS MIAMI

FAMA's first edition of citywide events, exhibitions, textile workshops, lectures, studio visits, and artist talks will take place in partnership with PINTA Miami, Aluna Art Foundation, Artnezs, the Cultural Institute at the Consulate General of Mexico (Miami), the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Americas, formerly known as Kendall Art Center, The CAMP, the Hartvest Project Pinecrest, Piero Atchugarry Gallery, RTCurated, Tanya Brillembourg Art, and Partners for Art & Design. 

Florida Humanities awarded a Community Project Grant Award to Aluna Art Foundation for the public programming of Threading the City. Lead scholar Adriana Herrera, Ph.D., joins other invited scholars, including: Carol Damian, Ph.D., Carola Bravo, Ph.D., Francine Birbragher Ph.D., Shelley Burian, Ph.D and Batia Cohen, Ph. D. Topics to be explored include the Pre-Hispanic origins of modern and contemporary fiber art and its continued presence in Latin America as well as sociopolitical uses of textile art in the 21st century.  

Programed Educational Events

Saturday, October 22, 2022, at 3:00 pm: First in a series of talks by Dr. Adriana Herrera is Threading Textile Times which will take place at Piero Atchugarry Gallery under artist Karla Kantorovich's immersive installation Ámate, curated by Rina Gitlin. Dr. Herrera, co-founder of the Aluna Art Foundation, will lecture on the influence of the legacy of pre-Hispanic textiles on modern and contemporary textile art in Europe and the United States. Her presentation includes examples of this legacy in the work of prominent artists throughout the continent and mentions of local artists who extend the thread of that influence. The talk will culminate with a dialogue on how artist Karla Kantorovich's installation Ámate, contains cues from Mesoamerican ancestral cultures in her contemporary artistic language. 

Friday, November 11, 2022, from 5 pm to 6 pm: A conversation with a group of local artists participating in the exhibition Subverting Materials: Fiber and Textile Art by Women Artists, curated by Dr. Francine Birbragher for the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Americas, with works by Aimee García, Aimee Pérez, Allison Kotzig, Evelyn Politzer, Ivonne Ferrer, Karla Kantorovich, Liberty Worth, Milena Martínez-Pedrosa, and Valerie Lustgarten. The Miami-based artists will dialogue about the ancestral and contemporary representation of women's fiber art. 

Zoom Talk | November 17, 2022, from 4 pm to 5 pm: Threading the City's virtual panel discussion features art historian and Pre-Columbian Art experts Carol Damien, Ph.D., and Shelley Burian, Ph.D., moderated by Adriana Herrera, Ph.D. The discussion, titled Circularity of Textile Time will explore the relationship between pre-Hispanic textiles and modern fiber art and will examine the living presence of indigenous art not only in contemporary artists who are direct descendants of native peoples, but also in other Latin American artists, including some Miami artists who work with fiber. 

Pinta Art Fair | December 3, 2022, at 3:00 pm: As part of the PINTA TALKS during PINTA Miami 2022, a conversation with local artists Pip Brant, Aurora Molina, and Evelyn Politzer, moderated by Adriana Herrera Ph.D., will reflect aspects of politically charged fiber arts, and ways of exploring the relationship between history, ancestral fiber traditions, and contemporary textile art.

December 10 at 12:00 pm: Dr. Adriana Herrera will also offer a public talk at the exhibition Braiding Times, at Tanya Brillembourg Art, Key Biscayne. The exhibition, curated by Aluna Curatorial Collective showcases Guatemalan contemporary art made by the Mayan descendant artists Antonio Pichilla, tepeu choc, and Manuel Chavajay. The talk will increase the knowledge and recognition of Native American strength in contemporary fiber art.  

January 15, 2023, from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm: A guided interpretive tour of Life at Street Level, by artist Carola Bravo, PhD, and Adriana Herrera. The event will be hosted by The Hartvest Project at Pinecrest Gardens. Life at Street Level is an exhibit curated by Dr. Carola Bravo, that interweaves fiber with photography, photo collage, and installation works to capture an instant view of Miami. Participant artists are Maritza Caneca, Evelyn Politzer, Jeanne Jaffe, Alissa Alfonso, among others.

All Florida Humanities-supported programming in conjunction with Threading the City are free and open to the public. Funding for this program was provided through a grant from Florida Humanities with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in these programs do not necessarily represent those of Florida Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.

ABOUT ALUNA ART FOUNDATION

Aluna Art Foundation is a non-profit organization 501 (c)3 created to promote a wide range of dialogues among artistic practices through a continuous and open invitation for artists to engage in its projects. Aluna Art Foundation promotes a better understanding of Latin American Art within the United States and offers Miami’s artists the possibility of participating, together with those from other regions or countries, in curatorial projects whose aim is the production of creative visions of the context we live in.

ABOUT FLORIDA HUMANITIES

Florida Humanities, the statewide, nonprofit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities, is dedicated to preserving, promoting, and sharing the history, literature,
culture, and personal stories that offer Floridians a better understanding of themselves, their communities, and their state. Since 1973, Florida Humanities has awarded more
than $16 million in support of statewide cultural resources and public programs strongly rooted in the humanities. These programs preserve Florida’s diverse history and heritage, promote civic engagement and community dialogue, and provide opportunities to reflect on the future of Florida.