Exhibition

Beyond the Selvage: A History of Screen-printing at The Fabric Workshop and Museum

September 13, 2013–October 28, 2013

Beyond the Selvage: A History of Screen-printing at The Fabric Workshop and Museum (exhibition view), 2013. Photo credit: Carlos Avendaño.

The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM) presents Beyond the Selvage: A History of Screen-printing at The Fabric Workshop and Museum, an exhibition showcasing how the Apprentice Training Program and the Artist-in-Residence Program—two of the institution’s longest-running initiatives—expand the possibilities of fabric in contemporary art practice. Featuring silkscreen yardage designed and printed at FWM, Beyond the Selvage represents the most comprehensive selection from the Apprentice Training Program in over a decade—with work from 1978 to the present day—and highlights several prominent examples from the Artist-in-Residence Program. This exhibition celebrates the dynamic range of interests, skills, and inspirations that artists have brought to FWM in its 36-year-history through artwork that reaches beyond the “selvage,” a fabric’s traditional woven edge.

Location

The Fabric Workshop and Museum
Eighth Floor

Opening Reception

First Friday, October 4, 2013, 6:00–8:00 pm

About the Apprentice Training Programs

As one of the original programs of The Fabric Workshop and Museum, the High School Apprentice Training Program offers students the opportunity to learn all aspects of hand screen-printing on fabric. In FWM’s professional studios, students design and print their own fabric yardage and assist staff in the production of artist residency projects. Hand screen-printing is an art form as well as an industrial skill, and the program is designed to provide students with new tools for artistic expression and self-empowerment.

Students from the Philadelphia area are encouraged to apply to the High School Apprentice Training Program. In two or three afternoons over 12 weeks, high school apprentices design and print a one-color repeat yardage, and assist in all areas of the studio. For high school students, the apprenticeship is job-training as well as an educational experience, and students earn minimum wage for their time. Students also receive portfolio and career guidance from artists and studio staff.

The High School Apprentice Training Program was created to provide excellent art education for teenagers from diverse economic and cultural backgrounds, with the specific goal of offering an opportunity unavailable to students in their schools. FWM’s objective is to complement school resources and improve art education for high school age students in the Philadelphia region.

Students from Philadelphia and from other U.S. or international locations are invited to apply to the College and Post-Graduate Apprentice Training Program. A full-time and part-time program exists for these apprentices to advance their own art training while also participating in the daily operations of the studio. Students design and print a one-color and a three-color repeat yardage, and assist with projects in the studio, archives, and administrative departments. Students also have the opportunity to give a short lecture on their own work, visit area cultural organizations, and work with visiting artists-in-residence. FWM actively recruits a diverse pool of candidates, with a special emphasis on international students. Recent apprentices have come to FWM from nearly every state in the U.S., as well as from Japan, Ghana, South Korea, Germany, Finland, Kenya, Great Britain, France, India, and China.