Karen LeBlanc: FAA Artist in Residence Popup 🧵

Karen LeBlanc, who created the “Hang-a-Heart” project in 2021 to honour Indigenous children who never returned home from a residential school, is back as an artist-in-residence at the Fredericton Arts Alliance with weavings from a series of small, shaped tapestries and fibre sculptures. LeBlanc is a fibre artist and weaver with more than 40 years of experience. Her passion for fibre arts began early.

“I taught myself to sew doll clothes when I was 6 or 7, and then learned to sew clothes for myself on a sewing machine when I was 12,” she said.

Weaving means a lot for LeBlanc. Her first experience was on a backstrap loom during her teens. Since hen, she has worked on many looms. Currently one of the ones she uses is an 8-harness loom.

With her residency from July 18-24, LeBlanc will use a smaller tapestry loom. She will use a 10” wide cotton warp to create a shaped weaving. She is ready to “break out” of her normal weaving routine and try new forms.“I want to test my boundaries of tapestry weaving through shaped weaving,” she said. “I will probably use a coloured warp, since I love colours and the warp may become part of the final piece, or it may be pulled and woven into the piece to hide the warp threads.”

For her pop-up event, she will be at the Fredericton Public Library on Saturday, July 23 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. She will weave and invite visitors to collaborate with her on a piece or create their own small tapestry.

The Fredericton Arts Alliance is grateful for the support of the City of Fredericton and Downtown Fredericton in making these residencies possible, and the Fredericton Public Library for hosting Karen’s pop-up.