Hattitude!
The Hats of Louise Hughes Rolling
co-curated by Vicie A. Rolling and Jill Breit
May 6 - June 24, 2023
"Hattitude! The Hats of Louise Hughes Rolling," co-curated by Vicie A. Rolling and Jill Breit honors the work and life of African-American milliner Louise Hughes Rolling with a display of 60 hats from her collection, spanning decades and changing fashion. The hats are a lesson in costume history, artifacts of social and cultural history, and works of art that bring aesthetic enjoyment to the viewer.
From the exhibit:
“The women in the Rolling family would say “You’ve got to WEAR a hat, you can’t let it wear you.” This is hattitude!
In the 1940s, teenage Louise and her family moved from Georgia to Trenton, New Jersey. They were part of the Great Migration of African-Americans looking for work and opportunity that was not available to them in the South at the time. Louise became a professional seamstress. She worked in a garment factory. In the evenings, she sewed clothes for herself and others.
Initially, Louise made hats for her own use only. It would have been difficult for her to purchase hats ready-made in that era. Even if she were allowed into the shops that sold hats, she would not have been allowed to touch them or try them on. Always interested in fashion, Louise studied movies, magazines, and pattern books to come up with her ideas for hats. Her extensive skills allowed her to make anything that inspired her. Eventually, her friends started asking her to make hats for them; a business was born.”
Inhabited Arabesques
An Art Installation by James Gonzalez
February 25 - October 28, 2023
"Arabesque, as I understand it, refers to a decorative style of extreme filigree, visually dense and sort of courting excess. In architecture, for instance, I think of maybe a pierced stonework screen bathed in sun outside, casting a design in graphic stark outline. I notice the descriptive "arabesque" often used for a piece of art that catches my interest.
The title is an inexact one, pretty broad, maybe a term made up by the western viewer looking at something "exotic" I thought of it as a title because it seems to be a little puzzling. You start thinking and then you ask ‘What does that mean, anyway?'
The pieces here are meant to be openly enjoyed, no hard narrative or linear stories. It is for me, more about the life-affirming quality of spontaneous adornment and ways of connecting, sharing out ideas that don't fit in language.
I choose to work with old reused material because this brings its own undeniable character. I much prefer it over the characterlessness of a fresh from-the-mill sheet of material.
This is an evolving exhibit: pieces will be added and changed and rearranged over the course of the show. My ideas will evolve too, the only strictures I am expecting to hold are in the size of the space. Expect quite a bit of work in the vein of cutout sheet iron work.”
-James Gonzalez
Arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils or plain lines."
"Inhabited Arabesques" is an evolving exhibit that will continue to develop with the addition of new pieces in the coming months. Artist James Gonzalez is creating an environment in which visitors are invited to linger, and then to return regularly to see how the space has changed. The complete work will be celebrated with a public reception in October.
James is a member of TAUNY's staff through the Creatives Rebuild New York program. Farmhouse Forge is his studio in Potsdam, NY, where he creates decorative and functional work.
This exhibit is supported with funding from Creatives Rebuild New York. CRNY is a three-year, $125 million investment in the financial stability of New York State artists and the organizations that employ them.
Photography by Gus Geraci
Hattitude!
co-curated by Vicie A. Rolling and Jill Breit
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"Hattitude! The Hats of Louise Hughes Rolling," co-curated by Vicie A. Rolling and Jill Breit honors the work and life of African-American milliner Louise Hughes Rolling with a display of 60 hats from her collection, spanning decades and changing fashion. The hats are a lesson in costume history, artifacts of social and cultural history, and works of art that bring aesthetic enjoyment to the viewer.
From the exhibit:
“The women in the Rolling family would say “You’ve got to WEAR a hat, you can’t let it wear you.” This is hattitude!
In the 1940s, teenage Louise and her family moved from Georgia to Trenton, New Jersey. They were part of the Great Migration of African-Americans looking for work and opportunity that was not available to them in the South at the time. Louise became a professional seamstress. She worked in a garment factory. In the evenings, she sewed clothes for herself and others.
Initially, Louise made hats for her own use only. It would have been difficult for her to purchase hats ready-made in that era. Even if she were allowed into the shops that sold hats, she would not have been allowed to touch them or try them on. Always interested in fashion, Louise studied movies, magazines, and pattern books to come up with her ideas for hats. Her extensive skills allowed her to make anything that inspired her. Eventually, her friends started asking her to make hats for them; a business was born.”
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Inhabited Arabesques
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TAUNY
turns 35 this year! In honor of this occasion, we’ll bring you our
35@35 series, featuring highlights from TAUNY’s history.
From
the very beginning, we’ve loved developing exhibits at TAUNY. Through
exhibits, we’ve been able to share so many wonderful people and places
in our North Country. Here’s our list of 35 favorite exhibits from the past!
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North Country knits: 2020 Projects. See here.
These knitting friends found a way to keep their weekly gatherings going last summer. Photo courtesy Karen Johnson-Weiner.
TAUNY's Open Call for Personal Collections
Do you or does someone you know have a collection related to folk art and/or traditional life in the North Country? We’d like to hear about it! In 2021, we’ll showcase collections from around our region in a revival of our popular Personal Collections Series. Contact TAUNY Executive Director Jill Breit, jill@tauny.org, 315-386-4289.
Note: All images, text and other material found in this website © 2023 TAUNY. All rights reserved.
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