SEQUIM — One person’s trash, as the idiom goes, is another’s treasure. And in this case, it’s wearable treasure fit for a night on the town.
Organizers are preparing the inaugural Olympic Peninsula Wearable Art Show for late summer 2020, with a call for entries open now through Feb. 29.
The show, set for Aug. 1 at the Sequim unit of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula at 400 W. Fir St., will feature “original designs by artists, seamstresses and fashionistas.”
Besides being a boost to the community — proceeds raised will go to the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula — the show is designed to celebrate creativity, encourage recycling and encourage youth participation.
Designers compete in four categories for cash prizes. Categories include:
• Wearable Art — wearable artistic creations made from recycled or non-traditional materials.
• Fiber Arts — wearable fashion made by using quilting, felting, weaving or knitting techniques.
• Upcycled Wearable — wearable fashion created from existing, ready-to-wear garments/items that are turned into “artistically-inspired wearables.”
• Youth — For participants 18 and younger.
Up to three entries will be considered. Application fees are $20 for the first entry and $10 for second and third entries.
Entries must be received by Feb. 29 and applicants will be notified by March 30.
Entiry forms are available at www.opwart.org.
Show founder Cherry Bibler of Sequim said the idea came to her when her friend Kim Pratt took her to the Port Townsend Wearable Art Show in 2015.
A lifelong seamstress, Bibler saw a multitude of outfits made of non-standard fabrics and components.
“How can you make that material look beautiful like that? That was the challenge,” she said.
Participants don’t have to be expert seamstresses, Bibler said, but rather have an interest in fashion and/or art.
Some wearable art show participants like to simply have fun, Pratt said, while others prefer to use their creations to make statements (such as a commentary on the environment, for example).
Those interested in making a piece but who don’t know where to start, Bibler said, can ease into an upcycled piece using combined outfits found at thrift stores, or using interesting materials and finding ways to connect them for what would be considered wearable art.
There are a multitude of examples and how-to videos online, she said.
Pratt, a Port Townsend resident, said that city’s event — which will celebrate its 10th edition in 2020 — is a huge draw in the community whose attendees often come back year after year because every show is so different.
“It seems like this concept is so exciting and innovative,” Pratt said. “There are a lot of repeat artists; each year they up their game.”
Now an Olympic Wearable Art committee member, Pratt said creating a show for Clallam County residents made sense, not only because of the PT show’s popularity but because it gives designers another event to show off their creations.
“Why not have more?” Pratt said.
Not an entirely new concept, wearable art is a burgeoning artform with shows across the nation and globe, from New Zealand’s renowned World of Wearable Art event to Alaska’s Ketchikan Wearable Art Show, and, closer to home, Bainbridge Island’s annual Trashion Show and Port Townsend’s show that has drawn competitors from across North America.
Inspired to start her own event for Sequim and Port Angeles, Bibler decided to take a slightly different tack than the Port Townsend iteration, focusing primarily on the “wearable” aspect as opposed to the “art.”
Bibler said she also hopes in particular to foster interest in the 18-and-younger demographic.
To that end, Olympic Peninsula Wearable Art Show organizers are setting up a summer workshop for younger artists. Participants don’t have to model their pieces if they don’t want to, she said, but can just create and have them judged.
The top 10 or so youth pieces are then entered in the Aug. 1 gala event.
Some show participants may not have models for the day of the show, Pratt noted, so there is an opportunity for those interested in modeling to participate.
“They don’t have to be Twiggy,” Pratt noted.
“We want to represent the real woman,” Bibler noted — but also added there are plenty of men, both artists and models, who take part in wearable art shows.
In addition, the Olympic Peninsula Wearable Art Show has sponsorship opportunities for local businesses; call 877-920-1084 for more information.
Two years after seeing the Port Townsend show, Bibler was entering a creation of her own — with help from her family.
Together for a reunion coinciding with a family members’ illness, Bibler and sisters Wanda Hecht of Grand Forks, B.C., and Linda Lancaster of Aida, Okla., decided to create a piece for Port Townsend’s 2017 show.
Each of them grew up sewing, and it didn’t take much convincing to get them to participate, Bibler said.
“We said, ‘Let’s do it.’ It gave us something to think about, focus on, during a hard time,” she said.
They decided on the theme: a flapper-era dress with the primary component of pop tops. From there they worked on the piece via phone calls, photos and videos. Bibler found a dress model in Sonja Younger of Sequim.
The sister trio, came together during a spring break (the timing worked out as they each work for school districts) and wound up working 15-hour days to get the piece finished.
For the 2018 Port Townsend show the sisters got together once more and upped the challenge a bit: Their creation made out of plastic Walmart bags would look like a short skirt but with a twirling flourish would reveal itself to be a full-length dress. Lancaster found a way to connect the bag material together using a melting pencil.
“I never considered myself an artist,” Bibler said, but a PT show participant pointed out she is.
For more information, see the website or call 877-920-1084.
