The Kent State University School of Art Galleries will
display “Fortuitous Nature: The Textiles of Luella ‘Waddy’
Williams” at the Downtown Gallery, Sept. 3-26.

The Kent State University School of Art Galleries will display “Fortuitous Nature: The Textiles of Luella ‘Waddy’ Williams” at the Downtown Gallery, Sept. 3-26. There will be an opening reception on Sept. 10 from 5-7 p.m. Both the gallery and reception are free and open to the public.

Williams was a textile artist active in Ithaca, New York, during the 1950s and 1960s. Her artworks were primarily weavings that incorporated found or harvested plant materials. During her lifetime, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London acquired one of her hangings for its permanent collection, and Williams was represented in shows at Corning Glass Center, Pennsylvania State University, Cornell University and the Worcester Art Museum.

Kent State’s School of Art Galleries would like to thank Linda McDonald, Ph.D., special academic faculty at Kent State’s Center for International and Intercultural Education. McDonald is the widow of Luella Williams’ nephew Peter McDonald, and has kept a significant amount of Williams’ work safe in archival boxes and on display throughout her home.

This exhibition was researched and curated by Anderson Turner, the School of Art’s director of galleries. It is Turner’s hope that putting Williams’ work on display will help to foster interest in her work and in the textile artists who taught and worked with her in the greater Ithaca area.

The Downtown Gallery is located at 141 E. Main St. in Kent. Gallery hours are Monday to Wednesday, 9:30 a.m.–6 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 a.m.–8 p.m.; Friday, 9:30 a.m.–7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.; and Sunday, noon–5 p.m.

For more information, contact Turner at haturner@kent.edu or 330-672-1369.