History
1974
The Guild decided to acquire and curate a permanent collection of fibre arts related to the Guild’s mandate. The first chair of the Permanent Collection Committee was Joan McLellan. Originally, the collection was envisaged to contain both works by guild members and more general examples of fibre arts. As well as preserving some of the guild’s history, the collection was intended as a study tool for guild members. The committee started their work by purchasing items directly from guild members (many members gave their work by donation) as well as non-guild examples.
1980
The Permanent Collection now contained 33 items, 23 from members and 10 from other sources.
1987
From 1981 to 1987, a further 23 items were added to the Permanent Collection – 19 from members.
1994
The Permanent Collection committee re-visited the aims of the collection and decided to keep only work by guild members. Other items were returned to their original donors or donated to museums. The committee moved to update the collection by asking life members of the Guild at that time to donate an item.
2019
Vancouver Art Gallery requested the loan of works by Marjorie Hill and Florence Daniels from the Permanent Collection for inclusion in a show – Modern in the Making: Postwar Craft and Design in British Columbia. The Guild loaned two works, Marjorie Hill’s purple coverlet and Florence Daniels’ placemat, to the art gallery for the show, which eventually opened in July 2020.
2024
The Guild turned 90 on March 7th, and the Permanent Collection turned 50 in 2024. As part of the celebration, a show of the Permanent Collection (with a few other pieces) was held at ArtSea Gallery in Sidney in March.
Images
For ease of viewing, images of the items in the permanent collection are displayed over a number of pages (roughly 10 items per page, with 2 photos per item in most cases).
Set 1: found here
Set 2: found here
Set 3: found here
Set 4: found here
Set 5: found here
Set 6: found here
Set 7: found here