LMRM: Access As Its Own Tool
Hope Wang
Hope Wang is a multimedia artist and creative entrepreneur based in Chicago, IL. She is also the founding director of LMRM, a digital weaving project space, center for community resources, and gathering place which serves the textile art communities of Chicago.
LMRM (“loom room”) is a project space, center for community resources, and gathering place which serves the fiber and textile communities of Chicago. With two floor looms and a TC2 digital jacquard loom available to rent, LMRM is the only program of its kind: no residencies, no university enrollment.
TC2 Jacquard Looms are largely only available at learning institutions. Cohorts of students learn on this equipment then graduate into a creative landscape where public access to these looms remains scarce and remote from big cities. This forces many artists to abandon or stall research in the discourse of contemporary weaving. LMRM is one of only two organizations providing public access to this tool in the US. Through programs such as rental equipment, workshops, events, and collaborations, LMRM strives to emphasize weaving as a contemporary art practice.
In this presentation, Hope will talk about what it took to create LMRM, the vision for the weaving community and some of the initial creative sparks that have happened as a result.
Hope Wang is a multimedia artist and creative entrepreneur based in Chicago, IL. Her practice explores memory, loss, and longing in the ever-shifting architectural landscape. She is interested in capturing what always feels out of reach: the last seconds of the sun setting against the factory wall, wavering shadows fluttering against the pavement, and the transient space between an open storefront and a shuttered one. She has been awarded a Visual Arts Fellowship from the Luminarts Cultural Foundation, as well as a Chicago Community Fellowship Fund from the Breakout Foundation. Her work has been exhibited throughout the Midwest and beyond. Wang holds a BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. hopewang.com
