Dorothy Caldwell — Textile Artist

Hastings — Ontario

Dorothy Caldwell is a textile artist who lives and works in the town of Hastings, near Peterborough, Ontario. She studied painting and sculpture at Temple University, Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, from 1969 through 1971, and spent most of 1969 studying in Rome, Italy. In 1980, she was invited to participate in the Fibre Artists Interchange at the Banff Centre in Alberta, and later returned as a visiting artist.

Caldwell is known for her large constructions that combine dyed and stitched fabric with wood, stone and other elements. Her smaller quilts and constructions contain fragments from the landscape as well as contemporary and primitive symbols, and reflect her love of African textiles.

Frequently exhibited throughout Canada and the United States, her work is represented in many public and private collections, including the Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull; the Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa; and the University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver. In 1986, she was awarded an architectural commission for the lobby of the Fine Arts and Theatre Complex at Red Deer College. In 1990, she represented Canada as Artist-in-Residence at Expo '90 in Osaka, Japan.

Caldwell has been invited to serve as a guest curator, workshop leader, and juror for various arts organizations. She has lectured at Canadian and American universities and art schools, spent a year as visiting artist and faculty member at Kent State University in Ohio and was Artist-in-Residence for a summer programme at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

Caldwell's volunteer activities have included being an Advisor for the Harbourfront Centre Crafts Studio, a member of the Curatorial Committee for the Museum for Textiles, Toronto, and a member of the Ontario Arts Council's Exhibitions Committee. Dorothy Caldwell is a founding member of Surfacing: Textile Dyers and Printers Association.