Barbara Setsu Pickett to talk on Velvet

Tuesday 24 February 2026 on Zoom only
Start time is 7pm, with the program beginning at 7:30.

Barbara Setsu Pickett will compress 45 years of research on contemporary velvet weaving practices throughout the world into her Power Point presentation. She’ll begin with her Fulbright Fellowship at the Foundation Lisio and highlight her explorations in 10 countries at ateliers where the 40 masters of velvet weaving work their artistry. She’ll conclude with how a studio artist in the USA can approximate the process using standard looms and equipment.

Barbara Setsu Pickett, an Associate Professor Emerita in the Art Department at the University of Oregon, focuses her art and research on velvetweaving, shibori, book arts, and natural dyeing. She has studied velvetweaving in Italy, France, Spain, England, Japan, China, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and India. Currently she is investigating the Andalus connection between Valencia, Spain and Fez, Morocco. She has received support from the NEA, Fulbright Commission, Institute of Turkish Studies, Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation/Bellagio, and Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. She and her son run Mihara Shibori Studio and create highly textured silk scarves. Her current research trip is supported by two grants, the Dee Brown Memorial Grant and the HGA Mearl K. Gable II Memorial Fund.

A Zoom link will be sent to all current members before the meeting. Visitors should contact us to get the link.