Rug Hooking Exhibit and Milton Songwriters featured at November First Friday
by Joan Clifford
The Milton Art Center is proud to present an exhibition of hand hooked rugs, featuring the Charles River Rug Hooking Guild in November, with a reception opening on First Friday, November 7, 5-9pm.
Nine members of the Charles River Rug Hooking Guild, Susan Barry, Jennifer Friesen, Kimberly Hokanson, Bernadette Jordan, Jean MacQuiddy, Eileen Moncrief, Lisa Senger, Carol Smith, and Judy Schweitzer will be displaying their hand-hooked rugs, each rug the vision of its maker. Designs range from geometrics with rhythmic, repeating patterns to floral compositions inspired by gardens and nature, to fairy tale illustrations and holidays and pictorial rugs- story rugs that capture moments of memory, humor, and daily life in wool.
Rug hooking is widely considered the only textile art form known to have originated in North America, specifically in the Northeastern U.S. and the Canadian Maritimes during the early 19th century. Most craft traditions, quilting, knitting, embroidery, weaving were brought over by European settlers. Rug hooking, born from necessity, used burlap feed sacks as backing and leftover scraps of fabric to create warm, durable floor coverings. Today, it continues to thrive as both a craft and an expressive art form.
Guilds like the Charles River Rug Hooking Guild, (CRRG), a chapter of ATHA (Association of Traditional Hooking Artists), play a vital role in keeping these traditions alive. They provide low-cost art education, hands-on learning, and a welcoming community where skills are shared across generations. Visitors to this show will not only see exquisite hand-hooked rugs—ranging from traditional motifs to bold contemporary designs, but also meet members of the guild and learn about the importance of guilds in transmitting knowledge, preserving heritage, and making art education accessible to all.
Susan Barry has been the president of the Charles River Rug Hooking guild for over 13 years. Many of the members of the guild, who meet monthly in Westwood, came to rug hooking because they were inspired by an ancestor who hooked rugs out of necessity and a desire to beautify their homes.
Most of the rugs in this exhibition are created with 100% wool, the traditional material prized for its texture, warmth, and rich color. Today, rug hookers use linen or monks cloth as their backing—both are strong, even-weave fabrics that can withstand years of tension from the hook and preserve the rug’s structure for generations.The shift from burlap to these archival materials reflects the evolution of rug hooking from a humble household necessity to a respected art form meant to endure.
Yet, not everyone uses wool – part of the charm of rug hooking lies in the spirit of thrift and creativity that gave birth to the craft. Many rug hookers, such as Jennifer Friesen, in one of her rugs on display, enjoy using leftover loops, creating vibrant “hit-or-miss” rugs from scraps of wool collected over time. Others embrace the challenge of thrifting and repurposing garments, blankets, and fabrics to give new life to old materials.
Some rug hookers use commercial patterns that connect them to generations of makers before them- but others prefer to design their own patterns, drawing freehand or transferring original sketches onto the backing to create one of a kind works.
Jean MacQuiddy hooked a rug based on a design that her friend, Noriko Manago, drew. Jean’s rug calls to mind the playful spirit of artist Paul Klee, whom she deeply admires. Like Klee, Jean approaches her work with curiosity and spontaneity, allowing color and line to lead the way. Her looping patterns and free-form symbol shapes evoke Klee’s belief that “a line is a dot that went for a walk,” transforming the simple act of pulling wool through cloth into a lively dance of imagination and rhythm.
Susan Barry, who has been rug hooking for over 25 years, pushes the boundaries of tradition in her rugs, incorporating beads in “Bee Friends,” silk, yarn, and other fibers to add shimmer and texture, and other techniques such as “proddy,” to achieve depth in her rugs. These innovations show how a humble, utilitarian craft continues to evolve into a form of fine art, where each loop, whether wool or silk, carries the imagination of its maker.
We hope you come early to meet and talk to the artists. We are opening the reception earlier at 5pm to allow conversation till 7:30 pm when local musicians, Franc Graham, Jeremy Blanchard, Steve Cousineau, Owl Haus,The Relegated, Drew Dunphy, Kevin Dambruch, and Claudia Wellington will be performing, the theme is Milton Songwriters, all original work.
We would like to thank our sponsor, Bridget Conroy, of Coldwell Banker Realty, who is sponsoring this special evening of art, music, food and drink. We are looking forward to seeing all our neighbors, friends and art appreciators!
