Mixed Media

Fiber Art

Contact Information

Philadelphia, PA
tel: 215-518-1733
e-mail:
www.amyorr.net
Please contact artist or gallery for purchases, commissions, etc.

Artist Bio

Amy Orr’s work is exhibited and written about frequently. Articles have appeared in Fiber Arts, Cloth Paper Scissors, Patchwork Quilt Tsushin, in Japan and a cover story in Surface Design Journal. Select exhibitions include a solo show, Plastic Culture, at the Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, SOFA NY, the 7th International Fiber Biennial at Snyderman-Works Gallery in Philadelphia and Alternative Quilt at the Houston Center For Contemporary Craft

Amy Orr is the Director of FiberPhiladelphia 2012 and adjunct professor at Moore College of Art and Design. She has a BFA in Fine Arts from Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem, Israel, an MA in Education from the University of the Arts and an MFA in Fibers/Crafts from Tyler School of Art, Temple University. Amy Orr lives with her husband, photographer John Woodin and son Hal, in Philadelphia, PA and Southold, NY.

Artist Statement

Amy Orr makes art from a pallet of post-consumer materials including credit cards, twist ties, chicken bones, shattered auto glass, plastic parts and currency. She uses these elements to create patterns; building elaborately pieced and patterned surfaces. Orr’s work pay homage to women’s work, using cultural ephemera in place of fabric scraps. Orr is fascinated by the ordinary, drawn to particular artifacts for their abundance, color and inherent content.

The plastic card, now an iconic element- is colorful, desirable and readily available. Orr collects plastic cards worldwide. Donations flow in daily. In some of Amy Orr’s work including World Map and Mao Sees Green, the cards are cut up into small pieces and arranged in mosaic-like compositions. Whether looking at a pattern piece or figurative mosaic, the plastic fragments create wastelands of advertising scattered with sparkling bits of information.

Education

1989
Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Elkins Park, PA
MFA, Fibers

1981
University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
MA, Art Education, Concentration in Fibers

1977
Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem, Israel
BFA, Fine Arts

Professional Experience

2010 – present
Director, FiberPhiladelphia

Adjunct Professor, Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia, PA

2008, 2010
Coordinator, FiberPhiladelphia

2007 – 2009
Adjunct Associate Professor, Crafts, Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Elkins Park, PA

2006
Juror, Art Quilt Elements, Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA

2004
Lecture, Textile Study Group, NY

1986 – 2007
Associate Professor, Arts Division Chairperson, Rosemont College, Rosemont, PA

1988
Visiting Artist, Glasgow School Of Art, Glasgow, Scotland

1982 – 1987
Adjunct Instructor, Fibers & Art Education, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA

1981 – 1987
Banner Designs and Production, Pennsylvania Academy Of The Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA

1981 – 1986
Program Director, Artmobile, Bucks County Community College, Newtown, PA

Honors and Awards

2000
Multiples, Rubin Re/Max Award, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA

1997
Power Of Paper, Fred D. Griffith’s Award, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA,

1989
PA Council On The Arts: The Artists’ Guide To Philadelphia, 5th Edition

New Jersey Council on the Arts, “Sharing the Arts” Purchase Award

1990, 1987, 1986, and 1984
PA Council On The Arts: The Artists’ Guide To Philadelphia

Grants

2007, 2006, 2005, 2003, 1995, 1989, 1988
Connelly Faculty Development Grant

2004
Claniel Foundation

1988
PEW, Faculty Development Grant: Visiting Faculty, Glasgow, Scotland

Bibliography

2010
Tribute to the Flag, Video, Scottish Rite Masons, 2010

Hemachandra, Ray, 500 Art Quilts, Lark Books, 2010

“Art for the Cash Poor Spotlight,” uwishunu, June 10, 2010

“Art Cards,” Philly Design Blog, March 10, 2010

Newhall, Edith, “Fibrous and Fabulous”, Philadelphia Inquirer, H4, March 14, 2010

Donohoe, Victoria, “Credit Card Art,” Philadelphia Inquirer, W26, January 22, 2010

500 Art Quilts, Lark Books, page 414, 2010

Pollock, Michael, “The Gallery Gang,” Wilmington Magazine, cover, pg. 6-7, February 2010

2009
Isaacs, Susan J, Essay for exhibit brochure Amy Orr, Plastic Culture, DCCA October 2009

Evangelista, Carina, Essay for exhibit brochure Amy Orr, Plastic Culture, DCCA October 2009

2008
Rosof, Libby, “The Fab Fiber Four: The Second Stitch“, artblog, March 19, 2008

Riley, Leslie, “Artist to Artist with Amy Orr”, Cloth Paper Scissors, May, pages 40 – 44, May 2008

Dribbin, Melissa, “Fiber Topics, Fiberarts in a Growth Mode”, Philadelphia Inquirer, pages E1, March 5, 2008

Weaver, Jim, “FiberPhiladelphia 2008: The International FiberBiennial“, The Crafts Report, October 2008

2007
Orr, Amy, “Quilt National and the Internet: The Artist Responds ” Fiberarts Magazine, September/October 2007

Sider, Sandra, “Commentary: Quilt National and the Internet”, Fiberarts Magazine, Summer 2007

“Amy Orr: Gallery”, Patchwork Quilt Tsushin, Tokyo, Japan, June 2007

2006
Smuckler, Janneken, “5th International Fiber Biennial”, SAQA Journal, Spring 2006

“In The Hub: Art on the Fly”, USAirways Magazine, page 112, January 2006

Young, Miriam, “The Culture Vulture:79-cent art”,The Roanoke Times, January 18, 2006

2005
Rice, Robin, “Amy Orr: Exploring Excess”, Surface Design Journal, Winter 2005

2004
Quotable Women, A Celebration, Running Press

2003
Leininger, Margaret, “In review: Survey Fiber 2002″ Surface Design Journal, Winter 2003

2002
Sozanski, Edward, “Fiber Show: Beyond Textiles”, Philadelphia Inquirer, May 12, 2002

Sozanski, Edward, “At the Cutting Edge: the State of the Art Quilt”, Philadelphia Inquirer, July 2002

Rice, Robin, “A View to a Quilt”, City Paper, July 18, 2002

2001
Quilt National, Lark Books, 2001

2000
Raftery, Kay, “At ‘Quilting Bee’, Layers of Lives are Revealed”, Philadelphia Inquirer, March 12, 2000

Quotable Women, a Celebration, Running Press, 2000

1999
Sozanski, Edward, “Using Raw Materials with Taste and Restraint”, Philadelphia Inquirer, August 6, 1999

Fiberarts Design Book Six, Lark Books, fall 1999

1998
Brown, Girard, “The New Garbage”, Philadelphia Weekly, December 2, 1998

Surface Design Journal, “Exposure”, page 42, fall 1998

Korach, Alice, Bead Art, Pages 76-77, Kalmbach Books, 1998

1997
Donohoe, Victoria, “Of Power of Paper”, Philadelphia Inquirer, February 1997

1989
Eliot, Robert, “Beasties, Beauties and other Wonders” Art Matters, Page, 15, July 1989

Selected Exhibitions

Solo

2009
Plastic Culture, Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, Wilmington, DE

2006
Amy Orr: Twist Tie Quilt, Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia, PA

2000
Beaded Streetscapes, Burrison Gallery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

1999
Disparate Moments, University City Arts League, Philadelphia, PA

1998
Amy Orr, Temple Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

1990
Interior Decorating with Plastic Alligators, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA

1985
Private Places, Kling Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

1984
Amy Orr, University of Delaware, Newark, DE

Personal Affects, Rosemont College, Rosemont, PA

1980
Amy Orr, 20th Street Cafe, Philadelphia, PA

1978
Faculty Club, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

Group

2011
Faction Politic, UD@Crane, Philadelphia, PA

Victory for Tyler: Works on Paper/Posters, Ice Box Project Space, Philadelphia, PA,
First prize

Little Treasures, Projects Gallery. Philadelphia, PA

2010
Practice and Process, Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia, PA

Currency, Art in City Hall, Philadelphia, PA

SOFA, International Exposition of Sculptural Object and Functional Art, NY

Philadelphia Invitational Furniture Show, Philadelphia, PA

7th International Fiber Biennial, Snyderman Gallery,
Philadelphia, PA

2008
Home Sweet Home, Pelham Art Center, Pelham, NY

6th International Fiber Biennial, Snyderman Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

Fiber Artists: Philadelphia, #5, DaVinci Art Alliance,
Philadelphia, PA

2007
Uncommon Threads, Artmobile, Bucks County Community College, Newtown, PA

2006
Vernacular/Spectacular, Meyerson Hall Gallery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

5th International Fiber Biennial, Snyderman Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

Exhibit 4, InLiquid at the Bride, Painted Bride Art Center, Philadelphia, PA

Take Cover, Quirk Gallery, Richmond, VA

2005
Studio Art and Design Faculty Exhibition, Rosemont College, Rosemont, PA

SOFA, New York, NY

2003
Alternitive Quilt, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston, TX

Riffe Gallery, Columbus, OH
Quilt National Traveling Exhibition

Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, Laurel, MS
Quilt National

2002
At The Cutting Edge, The State of the Art Quilt, Ross Gallery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

SOFA, New York, NY

Survey Fiber 2002, Snyderman Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

Quilters Heritage Celebration , Lancaster, PA
Quilt National
SEPCHE Studio Art Faculty Exhibition, Chestnut HIll College, Philadelphia, PA

Small Works, NAP Space, Kutztown PA

2001
Quilt National, Athens, OH

2000
Art Quilts at the Sedgwick, Sedgwick Cultural Center, Philadelphia, PA

Multiples, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA

1999
Art Quilts at the Sedgwick, Sedgwick Cultural Center, Philadelphia, PA

Focus on Fibers, Art in City Hall, Philadelphia, PA
Juror: Warren Seelig

Stories, 750 Gallery, Sacramento, CA

1998
Beadworks, Dairy Barn Cultural Center, Athens, OH
Juror: Joyce Scott

Innovations: Philadelphia Furniture and Furnishings Show, Philadelphia, PA

1997
Power of Paper, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA
Juror: Bernice Steinbaum

1989
Nexus Foundation for Today’s Art, Philadelphia, PA
Invitational

Beasties, Beauties and Other Wonders, Perkins Art Center, Moorestown, NJ

1985
Third Street Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Invitational

1982
Diverse Directions in Fibers, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA

1979
The Landsman Gallery, Magnolia, NJ

1978
Swan Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

1977
The Artists’ House, Tel Aviv, Israel