PORT TOWNSEND — An exhibition of past and present wearable art will open at the Jefferson Museum of Art &History today.
It will be on display at the museum, 540 Water St., through February, featuring new pieces and those from other previous wearable art shows.
Museum admission is $6 for adults and $5 for seniors. Hours are from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.
The Wearable Art Show was started by Debbi Steele, founder and past chair of the Jefferson County Community Foundation’s Fund for Women and Girls, as a fundraiser for that organization.
Sculptor Margie McDonald has been part of the Wearable Art Show since the first 2011 show — and as an artist and artistic director for the past two years.
McDonald crafts sculptures out of wire, rope and found objects, which double as fine materials for wearable art, according to a news release. She views her wearable art pieces as an extension of her sculptures.
“I see wearable art as sculpture on the body,” McDonald said. “The body is the motor, and I try to get rid of the body as much as possible.”
To achieve her desired movement, McDonald models her wearable art and then makes adjustments.
“When I’m building stuff, I build parts of it and then I video myself in it so I can see it moving,” she said. “That will help me make it more spectacular.”
One of the challenges in staging the exhibit was how to make forms that would show all the features of a piece, including wings, head gear and other large-scale design elements.
Many of the museum’s manikins weren’t suited for contemporary wearable art, exhibit designer Becky Schurmann said.
“What we’re working with are manikins for historical textiles. People used to be smaller,” Schurmann said. “One manikin was cut down with a saber saw to accommodate a wedding dress with a 17-inch waist when we were exhibiting wedding dresses at the Rothschild House.”
So, Schurmann had to create manikins for 20 pieces, a sampling of work from the past seven wearable art shows.
Next May, during Mother’s Day weekend, there will be new pieces to view at the annual Wearable Art Show after the exhibit at the museum has closed.
Inspired by Dale Chihuly, Nonie Gaines created “Blown Away” out of ink, dye, paint-embellished PVC tubing, freezer strips, plastic tableware and fabric. (Nonie Gaines)
