Gayle Fraas and Duncan Slade

Traverse

Collaborating artists Gayle Fraas and Duncan Slade have explored the relationship of ornamental surface and portrayal of landscape in quest of a sense beyond place. Studio practice has led to developing techniques for screen-printing and painting with dye on fabric, extending to other media on paper, wood and metal. Their collaborative dialogue has been continuous since the mid 70’s. Fraas-Slade’s work has been selected for some of the defining touring exhibitions that have influenced the field of Art Quilts: “The New American Quilt”; originating at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts, NYC. in 1976, “The Art Quilt” opening at the Los Angeles Municipal Museum in 1986 and “Six Continents of Quilts: the Permanent Collection of the Museum of Art and Design,” NYC, touring internationally from 2002-2005.   Several of the books where work is featured: Paintings of Maine by Carl Little, American Quilts: the Democratic Art 1780-2007 by Robert Shaw, The Art Quilt by Robert Shaw, Quilts Today by Robert Shaw, The Art Quilt by Penny McMorris and Michael Kile and Art to Wear by Julie Shaffler Dale.  Fraas and Slade continue to teach and lecture on their work. Workshops have been taught at conferences, art centers and colleges including: Haystack Mt. School of Crafts, ME, Arrowmont School of Crafts, TN and the School of Visual Arts, NYC.   In 1989 and 2003, the artist team received Maine Visual Artist Fellowships and in 1995 a National Endowment for the Arts/ New England Foundation Visual Artist Fellowship.

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Selected Solo Exhibitions

• 2018 - Silo Gallery, Nantucket Island School of Design and the Arts

• 2011 - Silo Gallery, Nantucket Island School of Design and the Arts

• 2010 - New Work, Silo Gallery, Nantucket Island School of Design and the Arts,

• 2009 - Island Images, Silo Gallery, Nantucket Island School of Design and the Arts, Nantucket, MA.

• 2007 - Watermarks, James Patrick Gallery, Wiscasset, ME; Frankie Weems Gallery, Meredith College, Raleigh, NC. Along the Coast, Maine Fiberarts Gallery, Topsham, ME
  Varieties of Disturbance. Susan Maasch Fine Art, Portland, ME

• 2005 - Nauticals, Gleason Gallery, Boothbay Harbor, ME

• 2003 - New Work, Winfisky Gallery, Salem State College, Salem, MA

• 2001 - New Work, Works Gallery, Philadelphia, PA.

Selected Group Exhibitions

• 2020 - Maine Quilts: 250 Years of Community, Maine State Museum

• 2016 - Museum Collection: New Arrivals, Baltimore Museum of Art, Berman Gallery

• 2015 - Shared Sensibilities: The Piano Roll Project, Bates Mill Complex, Lewiston, ME

• 2014 - Masters: Contemporary Fiber Art, Maine Fiberarts Gallery, “Masters: Contemporary Fiber Art,” May - June

• 2013 - Layers: The John Walsh II Collection, Arnot Museum, Elmira College

• 2012 - Man-Made Quilts, Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, VT
  Tribute to Ardis, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, International Quilt Study Center/Museum

• 2011 - Instruct, The Studios at Key West
  Artpark 1974-1984, University of Buffalo Center for the Arts,

• 2009 - Reservoir, the John M. Walsh Collection, San Jose Museum of Quilts, San Jose, CA

• 2008 - Visual Systems, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Howard Gallery

• 2005 - Rooted in Tradition, Foothills Art Center, Golden, CO

• 2004 - Envision 20/20, Colby College Museum of Art
  Another Layer, Portland Museum of Art

• 2002 - The Portland Show, Greenhut Galleries
  Six Continents of Quilts, Museum of Art and Design, NYC, traveling to: National Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan

Selected Collections

Elmira College, Cowles Hall, commissioned by John Walsh III 2017

Philadelphia Museum, Philadelphia, PA

Museum of Art and Design, NYC

Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD

Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA.

Bowdoin College, Walker Art Museum, Brunswick, ME

John Nuveen Inc. Chicago, Ill., commissions 1985, 1994, 2000, 2001

University of Nebraska, Lincoln International Quilt Study Center, The James Collection

Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, Golden, CO

Mass Mutual, Boston MA Waban, Inc. Boston, MA

University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

Selected Awards and Fellowships

2012- The Studios at Key West, artist residency

2008, 2007 - Nantucket Island School of Design and the Arts. A.I.R. program

2007 - Robert M. MacNamara Foundation

2003, 1989 - Maine Visual Artist Fellowships

2004 - Maine Art Commission Good Idea Grant

Selected Biography

• Art Quilts Unfolding: 50 Years of Innovation, Bavor, Ellis, Sielman, Sider – 10/2018

• Artpark: 1974-1984, Sandra Firmin, University of Buffalo Art Galleries /Princeton Architectural 2010

• Masters: Art Quilts Volume 2, Sterling Publications, 2011

• American Quilts: The Democratic Art 1750-2007 by Robert Shaw- Sterling Press 2009

• Paintings of Maine, by Carl Little and Arnold Skolnick, Downeast Press, 2006

• Six Continents of Quilts, The Museum of Art and Design Collection, 2005

• Contemporary Art Quilts- The John M. Walsh Collection, University of Kentucky 2001

Selected Media

• 2015 - Portland Press Herald, Daniel Kany review “Shared Sensibilities: The Piano Roll Project”

• 2013 - Wall Street Journal, “Object of Desire: Waterfall Quilt, “Fabric of Life Meets Water” by Missy Stevens

• 2011 - Fiberarts Magazine, “International Art Quilts”
  Philadelphia Inquirer, review of Fraas-Slade at Works Gallery

• 2010- Maine Home and Design, “Portland Public Library-Retrofitted for the 21st Century” Susan Grisanti Kelly

• 2008 - Maine Home and Design ”Tactile Textiles”
  Maine Homes Boats and Harbors, “Fraas & Slade’s Art of the Quilt”, by Carl Little

• 2007 - Fiberarts Magazine, “Gayle Fraas and Duncan Slade - Watermarks,” review by Gail Skudera

• 2004 - American Craft, “Quilts of the First Water”

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