Lost Weavings of Atlanta: A Report

Abstract

This article explores the history of corporate weaving commissions in Atlanta, during the height of the international fiber art movement of the 1970s through the 1990s. This period witnessed a coordinated strategy to install large-scale textile works in many of the city’s newer buildings. With few exceptions, the fate of these works remains unknown, as do the original circumstances of their creation. Atlanta is not unique in this respect; corporate fiber art commissions across the United States have generally garnered little attention from scholars. As a result, a chapter of late twentieth century textile history is actively disappearing. Drawing on archival research, artist interviews, and site visits, the authors examine how the local, national, and international contours of the fiber art movement coalesced in the story of Atlanta’s major corporate commissions.