We are excited to announce that The Patternbase has been selected to receive a 2014 Propeller Fund Grant, and that we will be opening a boutique gallery space in Chicago this Spring!
Since 2011, The Patternbase has offered artists, designers, and relevant members of the textile design community a virtual space to gather inspiration and education to enhance their personal and professional practices. The Patternbase gives free and open promotion for artists and designers through the Pattern Archive, and provides knowledge about the inner workings of the textile design industry through a series of discussions and interviews with individuals currently working within the textile and fashion design industries today.
Our dream is to develop this virtual presence into a physical presence, in which we can expand our reach and build relationships through hands-on collaborations and interactions with textile designers, fashion designers, and fiber artists from the Chicago community.
In Spring 2015, we will establish a well-curated, versatile boutique gallery space, in which artists and designers who primarily work with patterns and textiles will be invited to exhibit work and offer textile and fiber art related workshops. We believe that establishing a physical presence for The Patternbase will allow us the opportunity to strengthen Chicago’s textile and fiber art community by providing a space in which emerging and mid-career artists and designers can access the educational resources, artistic support, and exposure needed to foster creative growth within the industry. Establishing a physical location will also fortify our involvement in the local artist community, and will allow us to create a more in depth dialogue between the local and international textile design communities. Additionally, it will provide us with a professional space where we can meet with clients and buyers, allowing us to further expand our reach locally and promote the work of our exhibiting artists.
The gallery will feature artists who are influenced by textile design or have an aesthetic that is patterned, printed, or made of textiles and/or fiber. The space will challenge traditional models of the boundaries set between fashion retail and gallery, and allow these two venues to merge into one, where fiber art and textiles can thrive. We believe the creation of relationships in this unique space is important to the creation of an even more vibrant textile design, fiber, and pattern inspired community. This boutique gallery will offer a unique environment for textile designers and artists to show their work that encourages collaboration between fine art and design.
We plan to use the Propeller Grant Funds to acquire a location for the gallery space for three months to six months, depending on the location of the space and the cost of rent. This will allow us to test the market and assess whether The Patternbase can operate a self-sustaining gallery and event space outside of the digital realm.
Support for this project was provided by The Propeller Fund, a joint administrated grant from Threewalls and Gallery 400 at The University of Illinois at Chicago.
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