News!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Date of the Release: June 3, 2009

CONTACT:
Carol Cassidy-Fayer
Midwest Fiber & Folk Art Fair
(815) 276-2537
(815) 459-4080
Carol@FiberAndFolk.com
www.FiberAndFolk.com

Two Thousand Dollar Scholarship to be Awarded at the Midwest Fiber & Folk Art Fair – Applicants Wanted!

Crystal Lake, IL, June 3, 2008 – The Midwest Fiber & Folk Art Fair announced today that they aim to give away a $2000 scholarship at the fair this year. They just need someone to give it to. The scholarship, called the Fiber & Textile Arts Award will be given to a recipient who is enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate degree program in Fiber Arts or Textile Arts or one that is fiber arts related.

The award will be administered by the Northwest Area Arts Council, a local 501(c)(3) non-profit arts organization who also administer the Cecil O Johnson Performing Arts Award. The Fiber Arts award was funded by a generous donation made by Toni Neil, owner of The Fold, a fiber and yarn shop near Marengo.

The Midwest Fiber & Folk Art Fair began last summer and met with great success, outgrowing the original fair site. Fair organizer and founder, Carol Cassidy-Fayer, said "I am a big believer in paying it forward, and so when I conceived the fair I knew I wanted to create some community service aspect to benefit fiber arts into the future. The scholarship seemed like a great way to do that." She began to promote the scholarship and NAAC signed up to help her. The first conversation she had about it was with Ms. Neil. "I was astounded," Cassidy-Fayer said, "it was funded before I even figured out what to call it!"

NAAC President John Heng said "Supporting this fair and the scholarship was obvious for NAAC. The fair has become one of the biggest art events in the region in its very first year and fits our mission of fostering the arts perfectly." The Northwest Area Arts Council was formed in 1983 as the Crystal Lake Arts Council. Its mission is simple: to connect artists of all ages with the community at large. NAAC runs a series of art events throughout the year in McHenry County, including the 21 year old art show Women's Works and its annual Members Show.

Toni Neil has been proprietress of The Fold since it opened in 1992. She has known Cassidy-Fayer for many years and wanted to support the fair. "The fair is a FABULOUS resource for Illinois fiber artists and businesses," said Neil. "The mission to celebrate the work of our hands was very well received last year. I wanted to support this event and to ensure that new fiber artists can expand their horizons and continue their education." Neil offers a bevy of workshops at The Fold throughout the year, bringing in teachers from around the country.

"The most difficult part about this award," said Cassidy-Fayer, "is going to be finding someone to give it to. We've only got until June 30th to find a recipient!"

- MORE -

The lucky recipient of the Award will be announced on Sunday, July 20 at the fair by Senator Pamela Althoff.

Those interested in applying for the Fiber & Textile Arts Award will find the application and full information on the fair's web site at www.fiberandfolk.com.

To find out more about The Fold, visit their web site at www.thefoldatmc.net.
The Northwest Area Arts Council will be found at www.naac4art.org.
The Fair will be held this year at McHenry County College, Crystal Lake, Illinois, on July 18-20, 2008. Complete information can be found at http://www.FiberAndFolk.com.

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FUN FIBER FACTS!

Did you know?

v That currently over 53 million people in the US regularly practice some form of fiber art? (That number doesn't include the folk arts).

v Because fiber arts reduce stress, more and more heart specialists are recommending them to their patients and men's knitting, spinning and fiber clubs are springing up around the US?

v That making something of value with your own hands increases your self-esteem?

Did you know? Facts from history:

v The need for cloth and inexpensive materials to dye and produce it not only drove the discovery of the new world and colonization, but was a major motivation for the Industrial Revolution?

v Why did the British Army wear red? The only reliable red dye was "Turkey Red" and was VERY expensive, so dressing an army in that color was meant to intimidate the enemy.

v Red dye was so precious that when the Mayor of London in the 1500's was presented with a red cloak it was handed down from generation to generation in the will until the last scrap of it was put into a quilt in America in the 1800's?

v The early American colonies encouraged the beginning of the cloth industry, including giving tax incentives and finally requiring each family to provide the equivalent of one full time spinner per household. Because every one else was busy with the farm, the spinning usually fell to the unmarried woman/women in the household, who became known as the "spinster".

v The British were opposed to cloth production in the colonies – primarily because 1/3 of the British economy was based on cloth production and they wanted to build their market in the US (and prevent the colonies from importing from France, as well) so there were a series of acts – The Stamp Act, The Wool Act, etc that prohibited sheep, flax seed, even wainwrights (wheel makers) from going to the colonies – if caught they could even lose a hand! The "tea party" was just the last straw!

v The first public protest in the colonies was when the ladies of Boston converged on the Commons and did handspinning…in public (!)…in defiance of the British prohibition.

v Wedding Showers evolved from the custom of the family gathering to make the couple-to-be's wedding quilt, which evolved from having a party to show off the bride-to-be's handwork?

v The first truly American art form was the patchwork quilt, which came about because of the shortages of cloth in the earlier colonial days. That an official quilt was made for each President (like the china pattern) until recently?

v Three of the most important products that came back to Europe from the Crusades were: from China – the custom of making cloth warmer by stitching two layers together; from Egypt – knitting; from India – the spinning wheel. Up until 1200's all yarn in Europe was spun on small drop spindles!

v That the master weaver was the highest paid position in the court of the king?

v That the cloth manufacturers were the wealthiest men in Europe?

v The reason the maid stole Scrooge's bedclothes in Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" was because they were worth more than the silver?

CONTACT:
Carol Cassidy-Fayer
Midwest Fiber & Folk Art Fair
(815) 276-2537
(815) 459-4080
Carol@FiberAndFolk.com
www.FiberAndFolk.com