SPRING 2025

Sarah Hamilton Leathers ’53 and Leone Bowers Hamilton ’26 Art Lecture

“Fiber Art in Atlanta’s Built Environment,” Susan Richmond, Georgia State University

red. curvilinear scupture against curvilinear floors of an atrium hotel
Daniel Graffin, atrium sculpture, 1985. Fireproof polyester and brass hardware, h: 360 in. (914.4 cm); w: 75 in. (190.5 cm). Commission by John Portman for the Marriott Marquis, Atlanta. © 1985 Jaime Ardiles-Arce and Daniel Graffin. All rights reserved. Courtesy the Portman Archives.

Innovative, large-scale fiber works once filled the lobbies and atriums of Atlanta’s most iconic buildings. But you won’t see them today. They aren’t merely gone; they have disappeared, many without a trace, taking the stories of their creation with them. With few exceptions, the fate of these artworks remains  unknown, as do their original production circumstances. In this talk, Susan Richmond discusses her work with Jess Jones to map the locations and stories of Atlanta’s public textile history, with particular attention to John Portman’s projects. The intersection of large-scale weavings, architectural site-specificity, and corporate interests is an understudied component of the fiber art movement in the United States. Richmond and Jones’ “Lost Weavings” project connects a newer generation of artists, scholars, and craft communities to this rapidly disappearing craft history and its central role in Portman’s vision for Atlanta’s built environment.