Only the day before the entry slides for Contemporary West Coast Tapestry 2000 arrived in my office, I received a call from the curator of a prestigious public art collection inquiring about contemporary American tapestry artists. It was the first time she had asked me about contemporary tapestry and I was struck by the coincidence. I was thinking about tapestry and so was she. It seemed that tapestry was on many art minds: curators, collectors, and, most importantly, makers. Who would have thought that this ancient technique would be so current?

Judging from the almost two hundred entries for this exhibition, it is clear to me that tapestry, one of the oldest textile art forms, continues to be practiced with great skill and vision in the “high-tech” 21st century. These tapestries do not speak of a common theme. Instead they illustrate differing artistic points of view: color studies, photo realism, and gestural abstraction, among others. Each of the works selected is successful because the maker’s technical virtuosity and refined artistic statement are evident, illustrating a perfect union of hand, eye and heart.

I salute TAPS for arranging this exhibition which brings tradition with a new voice to the public.

Rebecca A.T. Stevens

Consulting Curator, Contemporary Textiles

The Textile Museum, Washington D.C.