A History of the Huntsville Fiber Guild
By Emily Whittier, 1997
The Huntsville Fiber Guild began as a vision of Elvira Glover. According to her statement written in 1987 she got hooked on weaving after taking a class at Mountain Gap School in exchange for teaching a copper enameling class. Elvira ran a craft shop at the time and Jane Reuther, who worked for her, also attended the weaving class. E
lvira organized members of the class and held the first meeting of the nascent guild April 6, 1977. Six people attended, agreed to form a guild and developed an ambitious plan: to bring Theo Moorman to Huntsville to be the guild's first workshop leader. The Huntsville Handweaving and Fiber Arts Guild adopted its by laws May 10, 1977 and incorporated June 7, 1977. The guild's purpose was to promote knowledge of the fiber arts. The founding members held the first Membership Tea in September 1977, with the statement that membership was open to "persons interested in working with others who share common aesthetic and technical interests and to maintain and encourage integrity and excellence in craftsmanship." The tea was held in conjunction with the first workshop. Though the guild ambition to bring Theo Moorman to Huntsville was not realized, Ruth Truett from the Nashville guild held a three-weekend workshop in basic loom weaving that was offered for credit at Alabama A & M University. All the students in the workshop joined the guild, and we received excellent press coverage. In October the guild was excited to learn it had received a $1000 grant from the State Council on the Arts for a tapestry workshop. By the end of the first year the guild had thirty-nine members. Education was the main goal ofthe guild and this was accomplished through workshops. Many nationally known fiber artists have come over the years, including Peter and Jason Collingwood, Madeleine van der Hoot, Anita Meyer, Rita Buchanan, and others. We have always used the talent within the guild as well to educate one another. The first fiber guild exhibit was held in May 1978. It featured the results of the first workshop and was held at the library. We have also been very active in demonstrations for the community, schools, street fairs, cotton festival art show... the list is too numerous to continue. We started Dye Day at the Burritt Museum in 1981, along with appearing at the first Panoply and the opening of Constitution Hall Park. The guild had a long and fruitful relationship with the park. Roc Day started in 1982 at the park, and we have continued it since. We donated our extensive fiber library to the Huntsville Public Library in 1982, while retaining a small selection of books and other publications. Over the years, our membership has been well published and exhibited, as well. In 1994, we started the dye garden and our association with the Huntsville Botanical Garden. Fiber artists tend to be interested in plants and the environment, so this is a good association. In that year we also shortened the name of the guild to the Huntsville Fiber Guild, but we didn't shorten the purpose or intent of the guild. The guild was started by enthusiasm and vision on the part ofsix people. These people and others who joined along the way became the driving force of the guild. We need to return to that vision, and encourage excellence in craftsmanship among all our members. Fiber arts are alive and well in Huntsville, and they need to be carried into the twenty-first century. We can do anything if we work together.
