Call for Entry

FASTENINGS CHALLENGE

Fastenings can serve as understated structural elements or designs that become the star of the show. Cool buttons, buckles, clasps, and frog closures can elevate a garment and make it distinctive, especially when they feature beautiful and unexpected of materials and techniques. We invite you to explore how your art form– fused glass, woodworking, metal work, ceramics, beadwork, rawhide braiding, fiber arts, and more–can be incorporated into a set of fastenings. And, there’s no submission fee. Yay!

$800 in Cash Awards – Open to Oregon Artists 16+

This exhibit is made possible through support from

I’ve had a dream of hosting an exhibit like this ever since I happened to run into Michelle Lesniak Franklin, winner of season 11 of Project Runway and winner of Project Runway All-Stars, on the sidewalk in front of the Rainbow, a downtown Pendleton bar. After blurting out how much I loved her season, I awkwardly tried to convince her that she should talk to Tim George, who was, at the time, working right across the street above Hamley’s Saddlery, about making her some braided rawhide buttons. She was mercifully gracious, and I finally allowed her to go on her way.

When Travel Pendleton Executive Director Justin Waldron conceived of Interwoven, featuring un-residencies for fashion designers and a runway show to celebrate the fashion and handmade work of Western and Indigenous makers, we thought that a Fastenings Challenge would be a great way to connect PCA to the event. Thanks to the generosity of the Pendleton Foundation Trust, our Fine Craft Marketplace features a beautifully lit, wrap-around display case that sets off small items like precious gems. Our first foray into displaying artwork in them came with our By My Hand: Holding Power miniature basket exhibit.

Our hopes for this event are three-fold: 1. To get beautiful, unusual, and well-made fastenings in front of designers who might incorporate them into future work, creating economic development opportunities for Oregon artists, 2. To inspire Oregon artists to take on something outside their typical studio practice, inspiring new discoveries along the way, 3. To have unexpected materials and techniques inspire the artists and shoppers who view the exhibit.

Roberta Lavadour
Executive Director
Questions? email director (at) pendletonarts (dot) org