Fiber artist comes 'Full Circle' with special exhibition at Dunedin Fine Art Center

Fiber artist comes 'Full Circle' with special exhibition at Dunedin Fine Art Center

Deborah Snider, Dunedin Fine Art Center's first director, returns for an exhibition titled "Full Circle."

TAMPA - Fiber artist Deborah Snider has come full circle in more ways than one.

"My first quilting class I actually took 50 years ago at the Dunedin Art Center," Snider said.

The backstory:

Snider was the center's first director in 1975. As part of the center's 50th anniversary, she was invited to have a solo show this summer.

She specializes in art quilting, a medium that she says has taken off. She says "Full Circle" also applies to the style of many of her pieces.

What they're saying:

"I love to do repetitive round motifs, mandalic forms and fans and things like that. The felt quilts are mostly hand-sewn, and then the actual quilting part is all done by machine, free-motion stitching, which is like drawing with a sewing machine," Snider said. "I like to have a story behind each piece. A lot of it is about social justice issues, women's issues."

"It has been a peak experience of my life, to be able to go back, having been the original administrator, but then being an exhibiting artist 50 years later. That's why I called it "Full Circle", started there, ended there, and to see what it has grown into, it's magic."

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Initially, Snider thought that no part of the original building existed, but during an artist talk in June, the center's architect, who's been through each stage of development, says one wall was saved.

"I almost jumped out of my chair," Snider said. "You just made my whole life to know that there's this little piece of what used to be there."

Snider hopes her exhibition, along with the other fiber exhibitions currently on display, showcases the variety of ways fiber arts can be created and shared.

"It was my heart's delight to prepare all the work," Snider said.

"Full Circle" will be on display until August 15th.

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