County College of Morris welcomes ‘A Retrospective of the Career and Works of Daryl Lancaster’
New Jersey Fiber and Textile Artist Displays 60 Years of Passion and Love for the Arts
RANDOLPH TOWNSHIP, NJ (Morris County) – County College of Morris (CCM), in partnership with Morris Arts and Teen Arts New Jersey, is excited to present the multi-run show, “A Retrospective of the Career and Works of Fiber Artist Daryl Lancaster.”
The first show will begin on Thursday, Feb. 29, with an opening reception, free and open to the public, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in the CCM Art Gallery. Light refreshments will be served. The exhibition will then run through Thursday, March 28.
“I learned to sew from my mother, at a young age,” said Lancaster. “Back then, sewing was an important part of domestic skills, creating clothing for the family, household textiles, drapes and upholstery. Though a child of the 60’s, and not interested in perfecting my domestic skills, I loved the sewing machine and the magic it held. My love of fiber and textiles only grew when I went to art school and discovered a fully equipped textile studio. I learned to spin wool, dye with natural dyes, print on cloth, and most importantly, I learned to weave. Or rather I was introduced to the loom. I say that because handweaving represents a set of skills that can take a lifetime to learn, and yet still feel like they only scratch the surface of possibilities.”
According to Lancaster, she found her true calling later in life as a teacher and empowered others to use their hands to make their own clothing. She continued to weave original complex structures and experiment with textiles, hand-painting warps and dyeing yarn.
An Incredible 60-year Career
The retrospective show will highlight aspects from her 60-year career in a variety of media, and will even include handlooms, fabric swatches and tutorials to create an immersive experience for gallery-goers. Upon conclusion of the show on March 28, selected works will be on display in the Titans Gallery starting Friday, March 29 through Wednesday, May 8.
“Daryl Lancaster has published more than 100 articles and digital content and produced more than eighty videos for her YouTube channel, The Weaver Sews,” said Dr. Brian Sahotsky, CCM Gallery Director and Assistant Professor, Art and Humanities Department. “She has exhibited a variety of work at museums, galleries, schools and institutes, sold work at craft fairs, and taught at a variety of fiber associations, textile guilds and colleges nationwide.”
The entire first run will be reinstalled in the main Art Gallery in anticipation of the 2024 Morris County Teen Arts Festival on Monday, May 13. The annual day-long festival brings hundreds of middle-, high- and home-school students from Morris County to CCM to showcase their talent and unleash their creativity.
The college looks forward to Lancaster being the festival’s keynote speaker and ambassador to her work. Her show will remain in the Art Gallery throughout the summer.
The CCM main Art Gallery and Titan Gallery are in the Sherman H. Masten Learning Resource Center on the college’s campus, 214 Center Grove Road, Randolph. Gallery hours are Mondays through Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., excluding holidays. Parking is available in Lot 6.
To learn about CCM’s Art and Design programs, visit http://bit.ly/3Skcmo7. For information about Teen Arts at CCM, visit www.ccm.edu/teenarts/, email teenarts@ccm.edu or call Karina Yermeni at 973-328-5446.
