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Rug Program

Past viewing_room
July 7, 2020


  • As the oldest textile program at Creative Growth, rug making was introduced through a visiting artist workshop in 1987, and quickly established itself as a favorite among the artists. Studio Instructor Tara Tucker inherited the program in 2003 and expanded its accessibility through the addition of tabletop frames and one-handed tools. The Rug Program has become a vital part of the Creative Growth community, with over 900 rugs produced since its inception. Creative Growth rugs have been exhibited at Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, Moss Design gallery, and featured in O, The Oprah Magazine and Paper magazine.

  • Artists fabricate rugs based on their own designs using a two-handed speed-tufting tool to punch yarn through stretched canvases. Larger projects require a cooperative of artists to work together on an individual artist’s design. Artists take turns or work side-by-side to complete sections of rugs that can be made up to 8 feet in length.

     

    "The Rug Program is very unique. We have been creating artist-made and designed rugs since the mid 1980s, and they always have that certain ‘Creative Growth’ look. I have seen other artists create wonderful rugs, but our artists always push the boundaries through their designs and application of the material. I think this program more than any other is all about partnership. We all help each other make these amazing new creations out of their art, by thinking about them as design with a function."

    Tara Tucker, Studio Instructor

  • Three long rows of colorful Creative Growth rugs on a wall at the Moss Design gallery. A row of orange chaise lounges are in front of the wall, and partial exhibition text is visible reading; “Hooked Up, curated by Kim Haistreiter.” (View more details about this item in a popup).
    A hooked rug featuring a closed fist with six fingers and a dark green border. The hand is hooked with several different shades of brown and each visible fingertip has a white fingernail. (View more details about this item in a popup).
    A large hooked rug featuring two nude women, one with auburn hair and hands on hips and the other, taller, with brown hair and arms overhead. Surrounding the figures are multiple pairs of colorful underwear and bras, floating in space. The rug has a cream background and maroon and blue border. (View more details about this item in a popup).
    Artist David Albertsen sits in a gray sweatshirt with his back to the camera working on a large horizontal rug depicted the Queen with the Queen’s Guard in bearshin hats and red coats. The rug is partially finished and the tracing of the original design is visible. (View more details about this item in a popup).
    Artist Gerone Spruill sits in a black t-shirt and baseball cap hooking a large horizontal rug. The rug is partially completed and features a profile view of a white dog with a flat top and tidy brown spots. The dog stands on a bright orange floor. (View more details about this item in a popup).
    An artist sits with their back to the camera working on a large rug featuring the head of a green bird with yellow eyes and a blue beak. To the right of that rug a very large, partially completed rug is visible with the outlines of a nude woman surrounded by floating pairs of underwear. (View more details about this item in a popup).
    Artists Larry Randolph (in a black t-shirt with his back to the camera) and Ray Vickers (in plaid, smiling with a thumbs up at the camera) sit side-by-side working on hooked rugs. Larry works on a design by John Mullins of a blue phonograph on a peach background. Ray works on a design by D'Lisa Fort of a erupting volcano on a black background. (View more details about this item in a popup).
    Artist William Tyler sits in a blue shirt and glasses with his back to the camera, tufting a colorful rug designed by Merritt Wallace. The rug is round and features a tangle of colorful snake-like animals on a light green background. (View more details about this item in a popup).
    Artist Rickie Algarva sits in a down jacket, her glasses and hearing aid are visible. She is tufting the black outline on plain canvas of a Merritt Wallace design, featuring a tangle of snake-like animals. (View more details about this item in a popup).
    A close up of the edge of a rug in the middle of being bound. Peach yarn is being sewn around the raw canvas. (View more details about this item in a popup).

    Creative Growth rugs in ‘Hooked Up,’ an exhibition at the Moss Design gallery, curated by Kim Haistreiter, 2005.

  • AVAILABLE RUGS

    • A hooked rug by artist Latefa Noorzai featuring a purple cat-like animal with yellow eyes, black spots, and human teeth. The animal has at least eight legs and four ears.
      Latefa Noorzai
      Untitled, 2019
      Hooked rug
      30.5x39 inches
    • A hooked rug by artist William Tyler featuring the bright yellow head of a cartoonish chicken emerging from a red birdbath filled with blue water. The birdbath sits in a wide green field against a blue sky full of white clouds. At the bottom of the rug, w
      William Tyler
      Vintage Design
      The Imposter Chicken Went Swimming in the Birdbath, 2020
      Hooked rug
      33x38 inches
    • A hooked rug by artist Lulu Sotelo featuring a character called “Latina Superwoman,” who stands with arms stretched out to the sides and wears a Superwoman-esque outfit with a red top, blue skirt, and red boots. The bottom two-thirds of the background are
      Lulu Sotelo
      Latina Superwoman, 2018
      Hooked rug
      27x40 inches
    • A hooked rug by artist D’Lisa Fort featuring a triple moon. The center moon is full and gold, on either side are silver crescent moons. The shape that these moons create is then outlined in colorful layers into a blue background.
      D'Lisa Fort
      Triple Moon, 2019
      Hooked rug
      26x36 inches
    • A hooked rug by Creative Growth alum Regina Broussard featuring a self-portrait in profile on a yellow background. Regina sits in a chair wearing a purple dress, red hat and scarf, arms at her side like a robot. A series of various picnic foods and dishes
      Regina Broussard
      Vintage Design
      Tea Party #3, 2020
      Hooked rug
      28x36 inches
    • A hooked rug by Susan Janow featuring an abstract grid of lines in red, yellow, blue, green and brown. With every few descending rows, the width on the left side gets smaller.
      Susan Janow
      Off the Grid, 2019
      Hooked rug
      14x30.5 inches
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  • John Martin

    Hammer Head #1, 2019
    Hooked rug
    27x43 inches
    $650.00
    SOLD
    • A hooked rug by Natasha Haehlen featuring an abstract composition of brightly colored squares in blue, red, and purple against a yellow background, concentrated at the center. The bottom fifth of the rug has a horizontal band of different shades of blue a
      Natascha Haehlen
      Abstract Watercolor, 2020
      Hooked rug
      27x35 inches
    • A hooked rug by William Scott featuring the bust of a black woman with a large blue afro and black hoop earrings, she is looking straight forward and smiling. Beneath her are the busts of six other smaller figures with afros, some have facial features and
      William Scott
      Vintage Design
      Afro Woman #2, 2019
      Hooked Rug
      30x43 inches
    • A hooked rug by artist Edwin Zalenski featuring the Transamerica Building in front of a bright orange and blue sunrise. The building is white, with blue windows, and has a large tree on either side.
      Edwin Zalenski
      Transamerica Building, 2019
      Hooked rug
      27x28 inches
    • A hooked rug by artist Lulu Sotelo featuring a woman in a white dress with a bright rainbow-colored stack of obleas as big as her body balanced on her head. The background of the rug is different shades of purple.
      Lulu Sotelo
      Lady with a Rug on Her Head, 2018
      Hooked rug
      24.5x44 inches
    • A hooked rug by Creative Growth alum Vera Hollins featuring two dark brown hands raised, a blue eye outlined in yellow at the center of each palm. The background of the rug is different shades of tan.
      Vera Hollins
      Vintage Design
      You Can't Hide from Me Because My Eyes are on You #2, 2020
      Hooked rug
      27.5x34 inches
    • A hooked rug by Creative Growth alum Eleanor Chackee featuring a blue trigger fish with yellow spots outlined in black. The fish has no distinct features except a black and yellow tail. The back ground of the rug is different shades of blue and purple.
      Eleanor Chackee
      Trigger Fish, 2019
      Hooked rug
      17x25.5 inches
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  • RUG ARCHIVE

    • A hooked rug by artist Rickie Algarva featuring two illustrative chickens on a tan background, surrounded by four small yellow chicks and various flowers.

      Rickie Algarva

    • A hooked rug by Creative Growth alum Donald Paterson featuring a stylized dollar bill in tones of yellow and green. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is written across the top and ONE DOLLAR across the bottom in thin black type.

      Donald Paterson

    • A hooked rug by Creative Growth alum Gerone Spruill featuring five of his signature characters, all in flattops, four in sunglasses. The center figure has a goatee and is lighter-skinned than the others, he faces forward and looks to the side skeptically.

      Gerone Spruill

    • A hooked rug by artist John Martin featuring a large blonde woman with bright red lips, red fingernails, and a green leotard with a patch at the center that reads BETTY GRABLE in red type. The woman kicks up one leg and has her hands on top of her head. A

      John Martin

    • A hooked rug by Creative Growth alum Camille Holvoet featuring a series of brightly colored bubble-like shapes, at the center of each shape is a pair of brightly colored (mostly red) lips. Other bubbles with no lips are smaller and less noticeable. The fa

      Camille Holvoet

    • A hooked rug by Creative Growth alum Luis Estape featuring a male figure, arms akimbo, in a hat and tunic that have a brightly colored grid pattern. His face is as large as his body, he has red lips and a large flat nose. The background is different shade

      Luis Estape

    • A hooked rug by Creative Growth alum Donald Paterson featuring the profile view of a red-headed Elvis in a yellow suit, singing into a microphone. His hair is mostly red, striped with black and gray. There are three yellow stars around his face.

      Donald Paterson

    • A hooked rug by artist William Tyler featuring the bright yellow head of a chicken with dark blue tears falling down its face. The chicken is at a pink stove with two frying pans, one has two whole eggs, the other has an egg with a broken yolk. The backgr

      William Tyler

    • A hooked rug by Creative Growth alum Luis Estape featuring the face of a large, sun-like figure with abstract shapes and dashes in various shades of orange surrounding their face.

      Luis Estape

    • A hooked rug by Creative Growth alum Regina Broussard featuring a large, front view self-portrait. Regina wears her hair in a low bun and a striped black and white turtleneck with flowers. There is a brown squirrel above her right shoulder.

      Regina Broussard

    • A hooked rug by Creative Growth alum Regina Broussard featuring a large open refrigerator filled with fruits, bottles, and a pink cake. A brown squirrel stands looking into the refrigerator on a black and gray tiled floor. A shelf with a bowl of fruit is

      Regina Broussard

    • A hooked rug by artist William Tyler featuring a pink double-decker bus, ridden by eggs and driven by a yellow chicken. The sky behind is blue and filled with gray clouds. At the bottom of the rug, words reading THE IMPOSTER CHICKEN IS DRIVING ALL THE EGG

      William Tyler

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  •  

     

    INTERVIEW WITH TARA TUCKER

  • You've been the Rug Program facilitator since 2003, what's it like to see artists transform their work into a rug? 

    I get really excited to see our artists take an original artwork and turn it into a rug design. Sometimes they draw something specifically for their rug, other times we use older artwork: ceramic sculpture, paintings, wood pieces, drawings, anything! The rug often becomes a more graphic and simplified version of the original artwork. The artists also love that they can touch it, sit on it, lay on it, and really appreciate their art in a whole new sensory way.

     

    How do you see the Rug Program as similar or unique to the rest of the Studio? 

    The Rug Program is co-mingled with Printmaking because we share the same space in the Studio. I often think that printmaking and rug making are so similar: each type of art is very process-oriented and has a foot in craft. They both use very specific tools and are creating an image from another image. We can make editions, or if you're just going for it with monotypes in printmaking, you can do the same thing with a rug. The Rug Program is very unique, not just for Creative Growth, but for the world. We have been making artist-made and designed rugs since the mid 1980s and they always have that certain 'Creative Growth' look. I have seen other artists create wonderful rugs, but our artists always push the boundaries through their designs and application of the material.  

     

    What's your daily routine like? 

    Before we all were stuck at home, I worked at the Studio three days a week. Two of those days are specifically for my rug sessions. I don't really teach anyone anything, except for brand new rug artists on how to use the tools. This makes it my job to be setting up the tools, transferring designs to backing cloth, and assisting the artists with finding just the correct yarn for their projects. It's like a quilting bee during program. We all sit around chatting and working on the rugs. When I'm not assisting someone with getting yarn or fixing a tool, I'm putting a beautiful edge on the finished rugs, or giving it a label. At the end of the day, I pack each rug project up and put it all away for the next time. 

     

    What is the process like from beginning to end? 

    The process of rug making simplified is this:

    1. Find a design.

    2. Transfer it to the backing material with Sharpie and a projector.

    3. Gather up all of your yarn for the project.

    4. Stretch backing cloth onto the frame.

    5. Punch yarn into backing cloth.

    6. Fix the back of the finished rug with an acrylic matte fluid, so the yarn won't pull out.

    7. Edge bind and label the rug. 

     

    How does the rug cooperative function?  

    We still use the Rug Crafter's Speed Tufting tool and the larger frames for the cooperative rug projects. It's a two handed tool that is faster to use but requires more strength. The artists making those rugs work on designs from anywhere within the Studio, often from alumni. Several artists will work on all of those rugs. Usually 2-3 at a time. 

     

    Any particular artists who love rug making?
    Rickie Algarva has been making rugs for about 25 years. Maybe more. She, Dinah Shapiro, and Dan Hamilton were in the Rug Program before I started working at Creative Growth 18 years ago. Those three artists taught me how to use the Rug Crafter's Speed Tufting tool. Our rug artists have amazing skill and tend to stick with it for years and years. Dinah Shapiro has told me more than once that the process of using the tools is meditative and helps her focus.


Creative Growth is a nonprofit organization that serves artists with disabilities by providing a professional studio environment for artistic development, gallery exhibition, and representation.

 

Founded in 1974, Creative Growth is the oldest art center and exhibition space for adults with disabilities in the United States. Currently, there are over 150 artists working in our studio in a variety of media including painting, drawing, textiles, woodwork, ceramics, rugs, printmaking, and video production. Artwork fostered in this unique environment has been acquired by prominent institutions worldwide, including the MoMA, The Centre Pompidou, SFMOMA, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, The American Folk Art museum, the Studio Museum of Harlem, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Collection de L’art Brut in Lausanne, Switzerland.

 

If the first university developed from a gathering of people exchanging ideas, then Creative Growth is a kind of university. Here for almost 50 years, artists with disabilities have gathered to communicate, express themselves, draw, paint, sculpt, and seek innovative ways towards creative self-realization and identity.                     

--Tom di Maria Director, Creative Growth Art Center

 

The work produced by Creative Growth’s artists represents everything I could hope for in art: it is simultaneously joyful, sincere, obsessive and puzzling, and forcefully reminds me of why I remain committed to the potential of art to illuminate our lives.                                               

--Matthew Higgs Director and Chief Curator, White Columns, New York

Creative Growth is a nonprofit organization that serves artists with disabilities by providing a professional studio environment for artistic development, gallery exhibition, and representation.

 

Founded in 1974, Creative Growth is the oldest art center and exhibition space for adults with disabilities in the United States. Currently, there are over 150 artists working in our studio in a variety of media including painting, drawing, textiles, woodwork, ceramics, rugs, printmaking, and video production. Artwork fostered in this unique environment has been acquired by prominent institutions worldwide, including the MoMA, The Centre Pompidou, SFMOMA, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, The American Folk Art museum, the Studio Museum of Harlem, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Collection de L’art Brut in Lausanne, Switzerland.

 


If the first university developed from a gathering of people exchanging ideas, then Creative Growth is a kind of university. Here for almost 40 years, artists with disabilities have gathered to communicate, express themselves, draw, paint, sculpt, and seek innovative ways towards creative self-realization and identity.                     

--Tom di Maria Director, Creative Growth Art Center

 

The work produced by Creative Growth’s artists represents everything I could hope for in art: it is simultaneously joyful, sincere, obsessive and puzzling, and forcefully reminds me of why I remain committed to the potential of art to illuminate our lives.                                               

 


Creative Growth Art Center | 355 24th st Oakland, CA | Contact gallery@creativegrowth.org with any questions

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