We hope to have in conjunction with the 2023 Association of Northwest Weavers’ Guilds Conference, a major tapestry exhibit celebrating tapestries woven by noted Oregon fiber artist Margaret Kilbuck Johansen.

About Margaret Kilbuck Johansen
Margaret Kilbuck Johansen was a recognized fiber artist in Oregon. Originally having studied lithography, she began weaving after moving to the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area in the mid-1950s. At the forefront of the emerging fiber art movement in the 1960s, Johansen quickly became proficient in the craft of weaving.
In Pittsburgh, she taught weaving and design at the Arts and Crafts Center and was an assistant professor of art at Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie-Mellon University) for 15 years. In addition, she taught at Oregon State College of Education (now Western Oregon University) in Monmouth, and at Linfield College, in McMinnville. In 1966, she received a grant for creative weaving from the Louis G. Tiffany Foundation and was named the 1970 Artist of the Year in Pittsburgh. She was one of the first Americans invited to exhibit her work in the Biennale Exhibit of Tapestry international tapestry show in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1965; the invitation was extended again in 1969. She participated regularly in juried exhibits, one-person shows, and major exhibitions – including the Paris Mobilier.
A self-taught weaver, she attributed an influence on her art by her Native American heritage and her early years living in Hood River, Oregon. Following 20 years of life on the East Coast, the family relocated to a farm in McMinnville in 1975, where she continued to pursue her interest in gardening and art, and was a member of the Arts Alliance of Yamhill County and Native Plants Society. Johansen was described as a quiet, supportive, and generous individual.
Weaving processes and techniques
Johansen was dedicated to the marriage of art and craft, with neither existing without the other in her work. Usually first drawn on paper or as collage, her tapestries were followed by woven samples experimenting with various yarns, structures and color schemes. Today, many of these preliminary sketches of her tapestries still exist.
Most of Johansen’s tapestries are woven primarily with wool on cotton or linen warps, but silk, mohair and other materials are also used. Weaving methods include classical tapestry techniques, free-form weaving, rya and soumak.
1991 artist’s statement
“The Marian tapestry [about the tapestry at St. Elizabeth Church, Portland, Oregon] was designed and woven specifically for its space in the church of St. Elizabeth, and for those who come here for renewal, strength, and love.
The sense of place that affects our lives is reflected in the strong horizontals of flowing river, path of earth, and the mountains whose blues and greens merge. The vertical lines of Mary and the young Jesus are equally strong in line and contrast. But the weaver has an additional agenda. In mind constantly is the idea of convergence of physical space and spiritual space, and the way this convergence is unique to us as a community, and to us as individuals. The weaver has a total commitment to the methodical process of handling one thread and then another in what becomes a humble act of worship, of caring and of considerable joy.”
Johansen tapestries in and around Salem
Johansen’s tapestries can be found in numerous churches and other public areas in and around Salem: McMinnville Public Library; churches; Trappist Abbey (Mt. Angel); Linfield College; Oregon State University, College of Agricultural Sciences (Corvallis); State Office Building (Salem); Jason Lee House (Salem); as well as numerous private homes. Her work is also in the Bank Suisse in Geneva, Switzerland; Wilmington Art Museum (Wilmington, Delaware); Reed College (Portland, Oregon), and the Moravian Church (Bethel, Alaska). She worked primarily with natural fibers, experimenting with natural dyes and handspun materials. Her tapestries reflected her pleasure in and knowledge of the Pacific Northwest’s nature and landscapes. A major work was a 12-piece series called “Native Wisdom,“ exhibited in Portland in 1993. Johansen enjoyed the challenge of designing commissioned pieces for churches and private homes requiring specific themes, colors and sizes.

Works by Margaret Kilbuck Johansen

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The 2023 ANWG Conference steering committee is very busy planning for the upcoming Association of Northwest Weavers’ Guilds Conference. Please continue to visit our website for information and conference updates. If you would like to receive information delivered to your inbox, please subscribe to the conference blog.