Guests joined us in welcoming artist and quillworker Joe Savage to Textile Center for a conversation with Tracy Krumm, fiber artist and Director of Artistic Advancement at Textile Center. Joe shared details of his artistic practice and his journey of becoming a self-taught master of the ancient art of quillwork.

About the artist:
Joe Savage (he/him) is a Saint Paul-based artist and traditional quillworker, originally from Cloquet, MN, and a member of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe. Over the years, Joe has become a self-taught master of the ancient art of quillwork embroidery. His creative practice is the culmination of over 25 years of research, as quillwork has grown to become a grounding and self-defining aspect of his identity. Joe enjoys working with older styles of quillwork, natural dyes, and local materials and techniques including natural sinew (tendon fibers) and deer buckskin tanned the old way. He follows animals and plants through the seasons to source materials and has drawn inspiration for his contemporary works by studying artifacts from previous centuries. Joe’s quillwork has won him many Best-of-Show awards at Native American art shows in the United States.