Eastern Iowa Fiber & Dye Cooperative | (site visit)

On an effulgent day in early August, as everything that grows becomes more abundant, bursting, and gemlike, 2024-25 Big Field Fund Project Grantee Nicholas Cladis shared a glimpse of the Eastern Iowa Fiber & Dye Cooperative. Located along a narrow strip of community garden at the Reno Street Park in Iowa City, this space posits a local and communal approach to plant-based material production, providing a sustainable resource for the spiritual and physical aspects of paper, book, and textile artists’ practice.

Two fellow co-op members, Lilah Ward and Jamin Shepherd, had just finished harvesting another batch of coreopsis to use as pigment, in dyes and other art supplies. The flax, intended as a fiber for paper, was gently shifting in the breeze, spotted with lavender buds. Volunteer amaranth dotted the garden amongst robust plots of indigo that were already in a state of regrowth following an initial culling. The garden is resplendent. Site-specific artworks and interventions by co-op members emerge alongside the strategically planned plot that includes “native dye/fiber plants as well as plants that have cultural or historical significance to Iowa.” As the garden continues to evolve, co-op members intend to responsibly harvest, care for the land, and share more with the community.

Find out more here.

The Eastern Iowa Fiber & Dye Cooperative is made possible by support provided by Big Field Fund, a program of Public Space One, whose funding is provided by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. In addition to BFF, the co-op is supported by Iowa City Parks & Recreation / city government. In its pilot year, Nicholas Cladis is working with local artists and curators Peju Layiwola, Martha Monick, Dana Noble, Jamin Shepherd, Cale Stelken, Lilah Ward, Cheryl Jacobsen, Nick Hotek, and Juli Seydell Johnson.