That evolution is the point. The works are in dialogue with each other—sometimes harmonious, sometimes in deliberate tension—and every visitor brings their own history to those conversations. Mott said it best: “I have always thought midsize museums are the gateway to bigger and bolder ideas. We have less staff, likely work twice as hard, but in many ways that also makes us more nimble and able to make things happen faster. We hope visitors who come to see one specific work of art or exhibition go away exploring the whole museum and being introduced to something new to them, creating a new curiosity and opportunity for exposure. Material World: Ten Women, I think, is an exhibition that introduces fiber and material art in a new way to more people, celebrating contemporary art, artists, and ideas.”

As Mott noted, “It is easy to think that fiber arts are just fabric, which is very singular.” Material World makes short work of that assumption. Elizabeth Brandt’s work alone tells the whole story. Her piece Shadowplay reads like a richly saturated abstract painting—quilted fiber, flat, precise. Her most recent piece, Pathfinder, uses those exact same materials, but with organic piecing and three-dimensional folds that undulate off the wall. It’s an entirely different conversation. Same thread. Two different worlds.

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