It seems the galleries are starting to exhibit new works following the holiday break, and in anticipation of the upcoming Oxford Fiber Arts Festival, many have jumped on the theme of Fiber Art.

The Powerhouse, University Museum and North Light Gallery are all hosting shows that will be ready for the art crawl on Tuesday.

The pre-crawl event for the evening will be held at North Light Gallery and will feature fiber art from many local artists.

There will be wall hangings, quilts and mixed media fiber art as well as many items crafted by the ladies at Knit 1 Oxford.

Artists exhibiting include Sky Loom Weavers, Kathy Berkshire, Kathy Corson, Lee Ann Wilson, Ellen Leppa, Mary Lou Owens and others.

North Light is located at the Orchard Church down Highway 7 North at 295. If you are traveling from downtown, it will be on your left hand side.

The show is aptly named Fiber-ize, and the party will begin at 5 p.m. The exhibit will be in the gallery until Feb. 22.   

At the Powerhouse you will be able to view many quilts of all sizes, colors and styles on display as part of their Powerhouse Gallery Series.

The quilts come from the group, Piecemakers of Oxford, which was formed in 1991. The group has monthly meetings and hosts drop-in sewing sessions on a weekly basis at the First Presbyterian Church in town.

The quilts on display are all different and represent many different patterns, styles and techniques. There are some that rely on applique, one constructed of T-shirts and others stitched in traditional patterns. Some depict animals and flowers and others are abstractions. However, what unifies the exhibit is the skill demonstrated in each and every quilt. They are beautifully made, exquisitely sewn and well-displayed in this large gallery space.

The group will have a table set up for the crawl with brochures about their membership and there also will be quilts for sale at that table.

They are hoping the exhibit will generate interest and attract more members to the organization. The Piecemakers have shown quilts in the past at the gallery, and their work is always popular.

The show was staged in January to coordinate with the Oxford Fiber Arts Festival which will be held Jan. 28-30 at the same location, and the quilts always make a great backdrop to this event.

It also gives locals something to anticipate in the cold winter days leading up to it.

At the University Museum, a new show Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry: 40 Years of Color, Light and Motion will be up during the art crawl but will have an official reception on the evening of the Jan. 28.

I will cover this show in more depth giving details on how the museum puts on exhibits in the Feb. 4 column.

Also next week will be more coverage on the Oxford Fiber Arts Festival. So stay tuned and get some more fiber into your life.

ANDI BEDSWORTH is owner of Art To Go, which brings free art opportunities to children in the community.