Artists Registry
York ME United States
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Artist's Statement
Statement of Work
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The Button Project, a 9/11 Memorial
A community art work
Using thousands of donated buttons
To represent lives lost
In the weeks following the September 11th tragedy, I struggled to find a way to come to terms with, and understand the enormity of the loss of like that occurred on that day.
My response as a visual artist is to make art. That is how I attempt to sort out larger than life events in this world. So I designed a hand-woven hand-dyed art work that would use buttons to represent the numbers of human life lost on September 11th.
On October 15th 2001 I emailed friends, family and colleagues about this art project, in turn these people emailed their friends, family and colleagues.
Within 24 hours I had strangers at my studio with handfuls of buttons.
Every day, for almost six months, I received more buttons either in my mailbox or hand delivered. Most packages of buttons came with a letter or note of support, thoughtful feedback and gratitude. Over 8,000 buttons came to my door as a result of this one email.
Over the winter of 2001-02, I designed and wove the 9/11 memorial piece that used over 3,000 buttons from hundreds of donors. The hand-dyed, hand-woven linen cloth that the buttons were sewn onto became a shroud for the lives lost.
In the process of creating this piece I found that people needed a voice, a creative outlet to express their grief and feelings of helplessness. The Button Project became a community art piece with over 25 community volunteers sewing the buttons in a ten-day sewing marathon (that’s about 300 plus buttons a day!).
The magnitude of community response to this project has been humbling and inspirational. This project has shown me first hand the power of art to transform and heal.
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Sarah Haskell is an award winning artist/educator who has been weaving and teaching for over thirty years. Since her graduation from Rhode Island School of Design in 1976, she has traveled as far away as Japan to learn and teach about her love of weaving.
Sarah balances her work as an arts educator with her career as a studio artist. She is a faculty member of Heartwood College of Art, Kennebunkport, ME, a member of both the Maine and New Hampshire Arts Commission rosters, and the VSA Arts NH artist roster. Sarah regularly exhibits her work in local and regional galleries, universities and art shows. She is a supporter of the work of the Surface Design Organization to promote awareness and appreciation of textiles in the arts.
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My professional goal is to maintain a constructive balance between teaching textile arts and continuing to grow and develop my own work as a textile artist.
As a self-employed weaver/designer, I currently weave, design and teach out of my studio in York, Maine. My continual fascination with the patterns of nature and human communication provides me with the strength and inspiration to become more honest with my work and myself.
EXPERIENCE AS AN EDUCATOR
Selected teaching assignments:
Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital, New Haven, CT 2005
CT Children's Medical Center, Hartford, CT 2005
International VSA Arts Festival, Washington, DC 2004
Connecticut Commission on the Arts, HOT School Summer Institute 2000-2004
Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, NH, Artist in Residence 2002
Maine Fiber and Fabric Festival, Portland, ME 1999, 2002
AIR Summer Workshops at UNH 2000, 2001, 2002
Connecticut Commission on the Arts HOT Schools Fall Mini-Institute 2001
NH Allstate Art Festival, Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, NH 1999, 2000, 2001
Heartwood College of Art, Kennebunkport, ME 1993 - 2001
New England Fiber Arts Center, Burlington, VT, Tapestry Workshop 1998
League of NH Craftsmen, Sunapee Fair, Children's Tent 1989-94
Exeter Craft Center, Exeter, NH 1982-94
“Convergence” Handweavers Guild of America Conference
Minneapolis, Minnesota 1994
Dallas, Texas 1984
Fort Collins, Colorado 1978
Tapestry Weavers of New England Lecture 1993
Boston Weaver's Guild Workshop and Lectures 1992, 1993
Art Ambassadors Workshops, ME, NH and MA 1987-92
Vermont Weaver's Guild Lecture 1992
Maine Weavers Guild Workshops 1980, 1989, 1991
Prairie Weavers Guild, Springfield, Illinois 1990
Fiber Studio, Henniker, NH 1989-90
Eastern Great Lakes Fiber Conference, Geneseo, NY 1989
NH Weavers Guild Workshops and Lectures 1978-89
New England Weavers Seminar 1987
University of New Hampshire 1982
Plymouth State College, Plymouth, NH 1978
RISD, Providence, RI, Summer Session 1975-76
Member of the Arts in Education Roster of the NH Commission on the Arts and the Maine Commission on the Arts and the VSA-New Hampshire Roster, and the Connecticut Young Audiences Roster.
Extensive residencies in Maine, New Hampshire and Connecticut in public and private schools.
Teacher Training Workshops: a selective listing:
University of Maine at Presque Isle, Teacher Training Workshop 2002
NH Arts in Education Conference Workshops 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002
Plymouth State College, Arts in Education Institute 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002
Connecticut Commission on the Arts Fall Retreat 2001
Maine Arts Commission Teacher Exchange 1999, 2001
American Textile History Museum, Teacher Training Workshop 1999
Portsmouth Music Hall, Kennedy Center Workshop Series, Poetry and Weaving Workshop with Mimi White 1998
New Hampshire Fish and Game, Workshop with Mimi White 1996
DESIGN EXPERIENCE One of a kind art fabrics on commission for residential and commercial interiors and textile designs for the industry.
Selected commissions:
1992-2001 Commissions for several private residences
1995-97 Allen Kaufman, Portsmouth, NH
1991-92 Mr. and Mrs. Stan Snyder, Doylestown, PA
1990 NH State Prison Visitors Room, Concord, NH
1989 Dr. and Mrs. Peter Cary, Stratham, NH
1987 Brunswick Yarns, Pickens, SC
1985-86 Trion Palace, New Bern, NC
1985 Concord Hospital, Concord, NH
1984 Digital Equipment Corp., Merrimack, NH
1984 IBM Corporation, Bedford, NH
1983 Meridian Bank, Hampton, NH
1982 Millstone Restaurant, Concord, NH
1982 Union National Bank, Lowell, MA
1978 Worcester Textile Co., Centerdale, RI
Selected freelance design jobs:
1986-90 Mellow Crafts Designs, Kennebunk, ME
1986-88 Kennebunk Weavers
1987 Halcyon Yarns, Bath, ME
1981-86 Newbury Designs, Newburyport, MA
1984-85 Marcus-Milber, Inc., New York, NY
1976-77 Stanley Berrocco, Uxbridge, MA
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2005 Channel Islands Art Center, Camarillo, CA "Uncommon Threads"
2005 La Jolla FiberArts Gallery, La Jolla, CA "True Threads"
2005, 2004, 2003 George Marshall Gallery, York, Me, Momentum/GPCF Finalist Exhibition
2004 One Person Show, Portland Gallery, University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME
2004 Group Invitational Exhibit, Hay Gallery, Portland, ME
2004 One Person Show, The William Richey Gallery, Portland, ME
2004 Group Show, The Wentworth Coolidge Gallery, Portsmouth, NH
2003-04 Gallery Exhibit, LaJolla FiberArts Gallery, LaJolla, CA
2003 "The Art of Being Tactile," online exhibit, PostPicasso.com
2003 "Tribute to Artists," The Artists' Museum, Washington, DC
2003 "Fiber Directions 2003," Wichita Center for the Arts, Wichita, KA
2002 Maine Crafts Association Group Show, Aucocisco Gallery at the Eastland Park Hotel, Portland ME
2002 Crafts in the Capitol, Juried Exhibit, Blaine House, Augusta, ME
2002 Invitational Exhibit, UNH Art Gallery, Durham, NH
2002 Maine Fabric and Fiber Art Juried Exhibit, Portland, ME
2002 “Uncommon Threads,” Textile Invitational Exhibit, Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, NH
2002 Women's Caucus for Art Juried Exhibit, UNH Durham, NH
2001 Juried Centennial Art Exhibit, Providence Art Club, Providence, RI
2001 Invitational Exhibit, Norwich Arts Council, Norwich, CT
2001 Portland Museum of Art Biennial Exhibit, Portland, ME
2000, 2001 Arts in the Capitol, State House, Augusta, ME
1999, 2001 George Marshall Gallery, Group Show, York, ME
2000 Maine Coast Artist Biennial Juried Exhibit, Rockport, ME
2000 Artscapes, Gallery 205, Concord, NH
1999, 2000 Spring Tide, The Cliff House, Ogunquit, ME
1998 Ceres Bakery, Portsmouth, NH, One Woman Show
1998 Momentum, League of NH Craftsmen, Concord, NH
1997 Living with Crafts, League of NH Craftsmen, Sunapee, NH
1997 Weaving Exhibit, Sharon Arts Center,
1993-97, 1983-88 League of NH Craftsmen Annual Juried Exhibit
1995 Colby Sawyer College, New London, NH Alumni Exhibit
1995 "Pushing the Envelope," League of NH Craftsmen, Concord, NH
1995 "A New Road Taken," League of NH Craftsmen, Concord, NH
1983-88, 1993-95 "Living with Crafts" Sunapee Crafts Fair Exhibit
1994 "Stars of the North," Instructors Exhibit, Convergence, Minneapolis, MN
1986-90 Gallery 33, Portsmouth, NH
1986, 1989 Arts/Technology Exhibition, CT College, New London, CT
1987 New England Weavers Seminar, Instructors Exhibit
1986 Fiber Invitational, Colby Sawyer College, New London, NH
1984 NH Crafts Biennial, Manchester Institute of Arts, Manchester, NH
1981-83 "The Haystack Tradition: Art in the Craft Media"
1982 One Woman Show, Salamandra Glass, Portsmouth, NH
1981 NH Group Show, The Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC.
1980 One Woman Show, CT College, New London, CT
EDUCATION
International Training Program for Hospital Artists, The Creative Center, NYC, NY 2004
Haystack MT School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME 1972, 1976, 1978, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003
Portsmouth Music Hall, Kennedy Center Training for Arts Education, 1996
New England Artist-Educator Gathering, Providence, RI 2002, Plymouth, NH 2003
Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI 1976: BFA Textiles
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
New Hampshire Theater Project, Board of Directors 2003-2005
New England Consortium for Artist-Educator Professionals, Advisory Panel, 2000-2005
Young Audiences Connecticut, Artist Roster 2001-2005
NH State Council on the Arts, Artist Roster 1990-2005
Maine Commission on the Arts, Artist Roster 1999-2005
VSA Arts New Hampshire Roster Artist 1999-2005
VSA Arts Maine Roster 2001-2005
New England Regional Artist Development Task Force 2000-2002
League of NH Crafts Foundation 1972-2000
The Guild Five and The Guild Seven 1990-1992
NH Per Cent for Art Selection Committee 1983-1986
GRANTS AND AWARDS
2005, 2003 Maine Commission on the Arts "Good Idea Grant"
2004 Juror's Choice Award, Portsmouth Children's Museum 20th Anniversary
2003, 2002 Finalist for the Greater Piscataqua Community
Foundation Artist Advancement Grant
2003 Portsmouth Herald (NH) Spotlight Award
for Best Visual Artist
2003 Wichita Center for the Arts, Wichita, KS,
"Fiber Directions 2003" 2nd Prize
2000 Spring Tide Exhibition, Ogunquit, ME Third Prize
1981-2000 NH Artist in the Schools Grants
1999 New Works Grant with Mimi White,
NH State Council on the Arts
1993, 1994, 1995, 1997 League of NH Crafts
Foundation Scholarship
1996 Artist-in-Residence on White Island, Isles of Shoals, NH
1989 Children's Museum of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, NH;
Outreach Grant to Art Ambassadors
1988 Papoutsy Art Ventures Fund: Grant to Art Ambassadors for Extended Community Work
1980 League of NH Craftsmen Juried Exhibit: Honorable Mention
1980 NH Crafts Biennial: First Prize Fibers
1978 League of NH Craftsmen: Travel Grant to the World Crafts Council in Kyoto, Japan
1973, 1978 Haystack MT School of Crafts: Full Scholarships
PUBLICATIONS
Curriculum guide: "By a Child's Hand: Russian Art from Siberia," 1994
"Weaving Ergonomics," Handwoven Magazine, March/April 1993
The Wood Cook's Cook Book, Cobblesmith Press, 1976