Why Make? Episode 72: The 2025 Fiberart International

Author: Erik Wolken
Published: Mon 25 Aug 2025
Episode Link: https://www.why-make.com/podcast/2025/8/25/why-make-episode-72-the-2025-fiberarts-international

In this episode of Why make we are going to literally talk about something close home, both my childhood home of Pittsburgh and my mom who was a fiber artist. That is the 2025 Fiberarts International produced by the Pittsburgh Fiber Arts Guild, of which my mom was a longtime member, Contemporary Craft and Brew House Arts. We will talk with two of the artists involved in this years show Akudzwe Elsie Chiwa and Chieko Murasugi .And two long time members of the Pittsburgh Fiber Arts Guild,which has produced this exhibition for over 50 years, Patty Kennedy-Zafred and Risë Nagan.

Take a listen as we weave a tale that for me starts with my mom and ends with learning something about an art form long denigrated as women’s work.

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Tobey Wolken