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 Ann
Keuper is a fiber artist who lives in Tucson, Arizona and specializes
in experimental tapestry. Her tapestries use traditional tapestry
techniques with nontraditional weaving materials. She draws from
a provocative array of natural and manmade materials ranging from
naturally dyed silks and silk cocoons, cotton and wool, human hair,
stones and feathers, to assorted synthetic fabrics, plastic bags
and recyclable products. Her tapestries are rich in color and texture
and potent with meaning and history. Some of her works are narrative,
while others simply respond to the raw materials she collects.
Ann began her fiber art studies in Switzerland in 1973. In 1979,
she received her Bachelor of Arts from Simmons College in Boston;
she earned her Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Arizona
in 1991.
After graduating, Ann became an artist-in-residence with the Arizona
Commission on the Arts and taught the art of tapestry in schools
throughout the state. She has also worked with at-risk children
and mentally handicapped adults teaching tapestry. Between 1992
through 1998 she was a member of the Dinnerware Contemporary Art
Gallery; she has exhibited her art throughout the Southwest. In
1996 Ann Keuper was principal artist to work on a grant-supported
project entitled The Sonoran
People's Tapestry Project in conjunction with The Sonoran Institute and The International
Sonoran Desert Alliance. Ann has taught as Adjunct Professor
of Art at the University of Arizona and at Pima Community College.
She has also presented several tapestry workshops teaching her
own unique approach to weaving.
In 1999, Ann was awarded a grant by the Pfizer Corporation to work
with Kino Community Hospital in conjunction with their Transitional
Long Term Care unit. The purpose of the project was to stimulate
brain areas of cognition, emotion and motor skills in rehabilitating
geriatric patients, ultimately producing a woven tapestry of their
experience with illness and recovery.
For the past four years Ann Keuper has been working with the Arizona
State Museum and the Gloria Ross Tapestry Center on a weaving
project on the Pasqua Yaqui Reservation. She is working in the
elementary school classroom teaching the art of tapestry with
an interdisciplinary approach. A document and a website of the
project are being created to reach a larger national audience:
schools, museums and their educational programs, and weaver’s
guilds.
 Julie
Hul was born and raised in Trenton, NJ by European immigrant parents.
From an early age, her mother taught her needlework techniques from
knitting to embroidery. This sparked an interest in fibers and textiles
that eventually led to weaving.
Julie received her BFA degree from the University
of Arizona in 2000 with an emphasis in fibers and printmaking. During
her years in school, both at Pima Community College and at the University
of AZ, Julie served as studio assistant to Claire Park and Gayle
Wimmer, respected artists and teachers in the fibers medium. Since
graduating, Julie has been teaching in the Lawrence school weaving
project with Ann Keuper and Holly Davis – Smith. This project
was begun to teach fourth and fifth graders on the Yacqui reservation
outside of Tucson the fundamentals of fiber arts and to nudge their
creative abilities.
Julie continues to work on tapestry and other weaving
projects while she also pursues an interest in native natural dyes.
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