Gretchen Romey-Tanzer: Inspirations

The Cahoon Museum of American Art announces a new exhibition, Inspirations, of over 30 weavings by Cape Cod artist Gretchen Romey-Tanzer. The artist will be in residence at the Museum for gallery talks and demonstrations on November 30, December 5 and 14 from 1:00pm – 3:00pm. The exhibition remains on view through December 22.

Romey-Tanzer is a master weaver working in the double layer technique which she uses to create intricate designs with brilliantly colored cotton fiber. The weavings appear to collect light, cast shadow and sparkle with prismatic ebullience. Romey-Tanzer’s mastery is her ability to create the appearance of visual depth, and to provide the illusion of three dimensions, through contrasting and analogous color placement.  The beauty of the work belies the highly complex process required to engineer such strong graphic shapes and abstract alignment of patterns.

A lifelong artist and weaver, Romey-Tanzer credits her parents and childhood travels for inspiring and encouraging her: “Art and Science were part of the opportunities available to me growing up.  With a mother who was a painter/quilter and a father who was a geology professor/writer, I had rich influences.  We traveled the United States in search of interesting geologic outcrops for my father’s research.  My mother would draw landscapes along the way.” She received her first loom at the age of 15, was mentored by members of the Northern Adirondack Weavers Guild and has been weaving ever since.

Romey-Tanzer holds a BFA from Rochester Institute of Technology, an MFA from Indiana University, and studied at the Joensuu Handcraft School in Finland, as well as at the Banff Center of Fine Arts in Banff, Alberta, Canada. She is a 2019 recipient of the prestigious Artist Fellowship Award in Crafts from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. She has received numerous awards, including the top exhibitors prize in both Baltimore and Crafts at the Castle, Boston, and her work is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.  She was an art teacher at Cape Cod Academy for 29 years and currently she weaves and teaches out of her studio in Brewster, MA.