CURATOR
Lesli Robertson, Insitute for the Advancement of the Arts Faculty Fellow, 2010-2011
The faculty
fellowship of the Institute for the Advancement of Arts (IAA) gives selected UNT
faculty members time and resources to pursue creative endeavors. Lesli Robertson is a Lecturer of Fibers and Weaving at UNT.
She exhibits her work nationally and in 2009 was the inaugural Visiting Artist
at the Dallas Museum of Art’s Center for Creative Connections. For her research
in Uganda, Africa, Robertson has received grants from the Dallas Museum of Art,
Surface Design Association, Textile Society of America and the IAA. She publishes
articles in leading textile journals including Surface Design Journal and Fiberarts
Magazine, and her work with communities is highlighted in various
publications and news outlets.
In
2010, Robertson traveled to Uganda, and with Ugandan printmaker Fred
Mutebi worked to promote the preservation of bark cloth through an initiative
titled Renewing Material. Fred and
Lesli partnered with artists and educators to create a traveling exhibition of
contemporary bark cloth artworks, a series of art workshops and a talking mural
exchange between Rasor Elementary in Plano, Texas and primary and secondary
schools in Masaka District, Uganda.
"For hundreds of
years, bark cloth has been a part of the Buganda Kingdom of Uganda, and now
this unique material is finding a place in contemporary art and design, both in
Uganda and abroad,” Robertson explains. "This is about promoting and
keeping alive a beautiful and interesting traditional material."
Read an online interview between Lesli Robertson and "Start-Journal of Arts and Culture"
