Women's Work: Fiber Art and Mixed Media by Whitney Dirks

More than fifty pieces of wearable art by St. Peter-based fiber artist Whitney Dirks comprise Women’s Work, a solo exhibition on display November 7 through December 27 at the Arts Center of Saint Peter.

“Women’s Work asks you to actively consider how clothing is made, by whom, and with what consequences for people and for the Earth,” says Dirks, who is also a fiber arts instructor at multiple local arts organizations and facilitator of the Arts Center’s weekly drop-in sewing group Stitch Witchery, Wednesdays 7:00-9:00 p.m. Dirks’ soft sculpture “Серенити (Serenity)” won a Juror’s Choice award at the Carnegie Art Center (Mankato, MN). The culmination of five years of experimentation with upcycled fiber (embroidery, hand and machine sewing, appliqué), Women’s Work is Dirks’ first solo exhibition.

Dirks is also a historian whose research focuses on bodies and unusual anatomies in early modern England. She is the author of Monstrosity, Bodies, and Knowledge in Early Modern England: Curiosity to See and Behold (Routledge 2024). Her creative work is on Instagram as @timeandtrilobites.

This activity is made possible by an Artist Grant from the Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council with funds provided by the McKnight Foundation

The Arts Center is open to the public five days per week: Wednesdays-Fridays 1:00-5:00 p.m., Saturdays 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., and Sundays 1:00-5:00 p.m.