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Mary Zicafoose

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I use color boldly, with a sure hand, creating strong visual statements in fiber. It is my relationship with color, the use of intensely dyed primaries within large planes of color, which distinguished my work. There is something very timeless and inner-dimensional about the process of weaving. As the planet speeds along, the weaver sits hour-by-hour, day-by-day, slowly and steadily building a tapestry. My work has been influenced by every textile I have seen and touched. Besides being wonderful graphic statements, my tapestries are designed, dyed, and woven to inspire the senses. 




Selected Exhibitions
  • 2007 60th Juried Exhibition, Sioux City Art Center, Sioux City, Iowa
  • 2006 New Dreams, solo exhibit, Nebraska Showcase Gallery, Omaha, Neb.
  • New Work/New Dreams, solo exhibit, Shackup Design, Bozeman, Mont. 2006 
  • Mary Zicafoose Tapestry/Prints, The Burkholder Project, Lincoln, Neb. 2006
  • Cool & Collected, The Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Omaha, Neb.2006
  • 2005 The Fiber Arts Collective 2005, Salem College, Winston-Salem, N.C.
  • Tapestry: Wrapped/Unwrapped, The Light Box Gallery, Kansas City, Mo.
  • Signs, Symbols and Codes, solo exhibition, Weaving Southwest, Taos, N.M.
  • 2004 Tapestries & Prints, solo exhibition, Gallery 72,Omaha, Neb.
  • Mary Zicafoose: Works on Paper, Emil Nelson Gallery, Denver, Colo.
  • Inward Journeys: Living Traditions in Contemporary Rugs, Boulder, Colo.
  • Out of Memory: New Tapestries, solo show, The Native American Trading Co, Denver, Colo.
  • 2003 Wildfire, Thirteen Moons Gallery, Santa Fe, N.M., solo exhibition
  • Fiber Fantasia, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, Ill.
  • Fiber Celebrated ’03, Yavapai College, Prescott, Ariz.
  • Western Threads: Fiber Arts in the American West, The Phippen Art Museum, Prescott, Ariz.
  • Artists Choosing Artists, The Burkholder Gallery, Lincoln, Neb.
  • 2002 The Fiber Arts Collective, Gallery 323, Madison, Wisc.
  • Convergence ‘02, Vancouver, British Columbia
  • 2001 Fiber Arts Collective, Sawtooth Center for the Arts, Winston-Salem, N.C.
  • A Common Thread, Textile Center of Minnesota, Phipps Center, Hudson, Wisc.
  • Fiber Celebrated ’01, Norah Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Logan, Utah
  • 2001: A Fiber Odyssey, Southern Illinois University Museum, Edwardsville, Ill.
  • The J Doe Project: Public Sculpture Installation, Omaha, Neb.
  • 2000 Convergence at Rutledge, The Rutledge Gallery, Dayton, Ohio
  • Convergence ’00, Cincinnati, Ohio
  • 1999 Fiber Celebrated ’99, The Albuquerque Art Museum, Albuquerque, N.M.
  • Fiber Focus, The St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, Mo.
  • Twister Visions, The Louisville Fine Art Association, Louisville, Ky.
  • Coloring Our Worlds, The Textile Center of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minn.
  • Artists Presenting Artists, The Burkholder Gallery, Lincoln, Neb.
  • The Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, Philadelphia, Penn.
  • 1998 The Smithsonian Craft Show, The Building Museum, Washington, D.C.
  • Resonance, Convergence ’98, Atlanta, Ga.
  • 1997 Fiber Art International ’97, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh, Penn.
  • The Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, Philadelphia, Penn.

Publications
  • Handwoven Magazine, “How to Hang a Show” - April 2006 
  • Taos Magazine - May/June 2005
  • Her Magazine, “Weaving a Life”, Sept/Oct 2004 
  • Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot Cover Story - Winter 2003/2004 
  • Saint Mary's College Courier - Spring 2004 
  • Fiberarts Magazine, "Notable Events: J Doe and the Magic Carpet," Jan/Feb 2002 * 
  • J. DOE: The Project-The Artists, Colonial Press, Omaha, NE, 2001 
  • The Omaha World Herald, "Omaha Meets & Greets It's J. Does," April 22, 2001 
  • The Nebraska City News Press, "Uplifting the Soul," September 23, 2000 
  • The Washington Post, "Home" section, April 23, 1998 
  • Handwoven Magazine, "The Tapestry Rugs of Mary Zicafoose," Nov/Dec 1996 * 
  • Smithsonian Magazine, April 1996 
  • Southwest Art Magazine, "Best of the West," October, 1995 * 
  • Fiber Arts Design Book V, VI 
  • The Guild: Design Book #9 
  • The Guild: Art for the Wall #12, #13 

Selected Collections
  • The White House, Washington, D.C.
  • The United States Embassy, Brunei, Bandar Ser Begawan
  • The United States Embassy, Jakarta, Indonesia 
  • The United States Embassy, Almaty, Kazakhstan
  • The United States Embassy, Bangkok, Thailand
  • The Unites States Embassy, Vilnius, Lithuania
  • The United States Embassy, Baku, Azerbaijan
  • The United States Embassy, Accra, Ghana
  • The United States Embassy, Colombo, Sri Lanka
  • The United States Embassy, Sana'a, Yemen 
  • Mobil Corporation
  • Norwest Banks 
  • Tenaska Power Services, Arlington, Tex.
  • Reese,Tomases & Ellick, Wilmington, Del.
  • Museum of Nebraska Art, Kearney, Neb.
  • The Nebraska Arts Council, Omaha, Neb.

Education
  • BFA, St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Ind., 1973
  • Post Graduate: School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1977-78
  • University of Nebraska, 1978

Personal Highlights
Mary Zicafoose tapestries and rugs span the globe, from corporate offices to ten United States Embassies on three continents. Her signature hard-edged images and ikat woven textiles blend archetypal symbols with a contemporary voice. Mary maintains a fiber studio in Omaha, Nebraska, where she lives with her husband Kirby and college-bound daughter, Kale. She and Sue Ann have been best friends since they met on a bus in Germany the summer they were twenty-five.

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