Wearable Art Show returns for 9th year in February

PALMER — For the ninth year running, the Valley Art Alliance invites local artists to strut their stuff — and make it, too — in the 2015 Wearable Art Show.

Alliance board member Eric Summerfield said they’re not the first to do something like this — New Zealand’s World of WearableArt has accumulated an audience of more than 50,000 viewers, for example, and right here in the state, Juneau’s Wearable Art Extravaganza brings in many viewers each year and Ketichikan’s show has already sold out two of their four 2015 performances.

“It’s nothing new in the art world,” Summerfield said.

Still closet artists or laymen not tuned in to this beat may be asking, what is a wearable art show?

“It’s for artists to display their artwork, and the artwork is in the garment and in the presentation,” Summerfield said.

Artists are invited to use the unconventional to their advantage, rather than just hand-making a fabric and hand-sewing it into a garment they might wear on a regular basis, for example. Each year there is a different theme, and each person is allowed to pick music to pair with their entry.

Since there’s no declared winner, perhaps people find themselves more willing to get creative, and more comfortable to present themselves and act a little onstage.

Another alliance board member and longtime artist, Sandra Cook, said she likes to pick her music first, then build a costume around it.

“The way the show is set up, it’s also kind of performance art,” she said.

Cook also runs SL Cook Pottery and enjoys making fiber art, among other kinds. After more than 30 years of practice in the field of fine arts, she is clearly skilled with various media that could be used to fashion a costume or outfit.

However, it seems that unusual, “non-art” materials can go just as far in the world of wearable art.

Cook said that, when the alliance first started the show in Palmer, the group was “doing a lot of things with the recycling center,” and so encouraged artists to recycle in the making of their wearable art.

“It’s interesting to see the different costumes and what people are doing with things that you just wouldn’t think would be used for wearable art,” she said.

Items such as pie pans, Swiffer dusters, tarp, DVDs, inner tubes and old rifle cartridge cases were just a few of the resources employed in last year’s show.

But it’s not all about the spectacle. With the slogan, “Bringing the community together through the arts,” the Valley Arts Alliance wants to make sure their members are having fun being together.

“I love the sense of camaraderie in the dressing room and with other artists, everybody’s just really supportive of one another,” Cook said. “It’s just really a lot of fun.”

It seems to be growing, too. The alliance added a second show time in 2011, which has remained as the audiences and number of entrants continue to grow.

Summerfield said the show is limited by the size of the Palmer Depot, which has been the venue for the last several years, so they’re keeping their eyes peeled for a new location in the future.

Although wearable art may not be for everyone, Summerfield said that shouldn’t preclude involvement with the Arts Alliance. The organization hosts numerous artistic events throughout the year — one of which is the popular Art on Fire iron pour — so event-goers and budding artists have an opportunity to see many different ways of being creative and being in community.

“Some people like wearable art, some people like Art on Fire, and it’s not (always) the same people,” Summerfield said. “The more things we do, the more we bring in different types of people.”

For more information, visit valleyartsalliance.com, or find them on Facebook.

An application for the Wearable Art Show will be posted on the main page there in the next couple of days.

Contact Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.