Recently I submitted my interest in participating in a particular exhibition this summer but was not actually sure if ‘felt’ would be an acceptable medium for the event in question. I did give the organisers my blog address and links to my Flickr photos, yesterday I got their response; I am welcome to exhibit ‘art’ as opposed to ‘craft’, their definition of craft as being something functional. Now some of you might be a bit annoyed not to be free to exhibit whatever you like but in fact I did find their definition of craft as very interesting and by extension helpful. Time and time again I feel that ‘craft’ takes a second place to ‘art’ yet textiles in some form or other may be on display in a fine art exhibition and I am never sure where the boarders cross. Thanks to Brandon and Mary for making the distinction clear as far as their show is concerned, I now know exactly the direction to take when preparing my work for submission!
Nicola Brown Fine Art Textiles
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Nicola Brown Fine Art Textiles 
That is a definition I hadn’t dealt with either. It is rather simple and understandable. The galleries in the mountains here are rather willing to display both. My mom is a production potter and somehow when people look at “art” what they end up buying is the pottery?! Maybe the less serious see that the pottery is more affordable and the art takes more commitment.
Congratulations on your acceptance into the exhibit. I knew you were an artist all along.
Hey, on a completely different note. I heard on Oprah’s Earth Week show yesterday, that if you choose to use plastic bags when doing your shopping in Ireland, that you’re charged, I believe 33 (U.S.) cents per bag. Hooray for Ireland! I was so saddened to see the film clips that were shown of our oceans just filled with plastic waste. We’re slowly beginning to move away from all the plastic shopping bags, but I’ll bet we’d speed up considerably here in the U.S., if we were to follow Ireland’s lead and charge a premium for them.
Sorry to get off topic, but just wanted to tip my hat (felt, of course) to you.
Congratulations again.
Dawn
I also believe the difference is that “art” speaks to a deeper level than the eye sees. In other words, often art is a mode of not only visual communication but a commentary on various aspects of the world around us. HOWEVER I know some artists who make “functional art”, just pretty little pictures of happy landscapes that matches the decor of a home. …..hotel room art prints. Their work does not push the medium, the subject matter or the execution. I would NOT call it art work at all.
Welcome to my world!
It is so hard not to be pigeon-holed in this country, to be accepted into both worlds. Are you an artists running in artists circles, or a craftsperson running in craft circles?
As you said, its in the submission, the wording. Call it a piece of felt, and its craft, call it mixed media and its art!
This friend of mine is taking pictures of normal objects that look like letters and then making words out of it…check out his website… http://www.wordsaroundtown.com