Education

• 1982 Master of Fine Arts, Cranbrook Academy of Art
• 1976 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Kansas City Art Institute

Prizes and Awards

• 2019 Individual Advancement Grant, Indiana Arts Commission
• 2016 Niche Award, first prize, DecorativeFiber
• 2004 James R Thompson Award for Excellence in Craft, Illinois Artisans Program
• 2000 Illinois Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship
  •    Second prize, Measure for Measure exhibition, Surface Design Association
       Conference
• 1999 James R. Thompson Award for Excellence in Craft, Illinois Artisans Program
• 1997 Illinois Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship, finalist award
  • Award of Excellence in Weaving, Fiber Focus ’97, Art St. Louis
• 1996 Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies on the Fine Arts, Grant
• 1991 Illinois Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship
• 1986 National Endowment for the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship
• 1985 Leone di Pietra, Venice Biennale of Architecture

Collections/Commissions (selected):

• The Art Institute of Chicago
• Reading Public Museum
• Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum
• The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
• Archives of the Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
• The Denver Art Museum
• Cranbrook Academy of Art/Museum
• Racine Art Museum
• DeLoitte & Touche, Chicago
• Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel, Anaheim
• Mallinckrodt Corporation, St. Louis
• American Association of Retired Persons, Washington DC
• The Federal Reserve Bank, Chicago
• Credit Lyonnaise, Chicago
• The Chicago Board of Trade
• American National Bank, Chicago
• Union Bank of Switzerland, Houston
• Prudential Corporation, New York
• AT&T Corporation, Lisle, Illinois
• Quaker Oats, Chicago and Danville, Illinois
• Moody Bank, Galveston, Texas
• Ernst & Young, St. Louis
• Hyatt Corporate Offices, Chicago
• University of Illinois Medical Center, Chicago
• La Rabida Children’s Hospital, Chicago
• Balcor Corporation, Chicago
• Masonite Corporation, Chicago
• U.S. Gypsum, Chicago
• Home National Bank, Arkansas City, Kansas
• Loeb & Loeb, attorneys, New York
• Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue, attorneys, Columbus
• Le Boeuf, Lamb, Lieby & McRae, attorneys, New York
• Acco Corporation, Chicago
• The collection of Marc & Diane Grainer
• The collection of Karen Johnson Boyd
• The Robert L. Pfannebecker Collection
• The collection of Gerhardt Knodel
• The collection of Lewis Manilow
• The collection of Maxine & Stuart Frankel
• The Collection of Kay & Matthew Buxbaum

Solo and Two-Person Exhibitions

• 2017 St Meinrad Archabbey. St Meinrad, IN
• 2016 Henderson Art Center, Henderson, Kentucky
• 2015 University of Evansville, Melvin Peterson Gallery, Indiana
• 2014 Hoosier Salon, New Harmony Indiana
  • St. Meinrad Archabbey, St. Meinrad, Indiana
• 2011 McCutcheon Art Center/Pace Galleries, University of Southern Indiana
  • Hibberd McGrath Gallery, Breckinridge CO
  • Patina Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
• 2007 Hibberd McGrath Gallery, Breckinridge CO
  • New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art, IN
  • Lauritzen Botanic Garden, Omaha
• 2005 Quincy Art Center, Quincy IL
• 2004 Patina Gallery, Santa Fe NM
  • Signature Gallery, Atlanta
• 2003 New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art, New Harmony, IN
  • Mirabeau Gallery, Houston, TX
• 2001 Minneapolis Institute of Arts, “Conflict or Compromise? The Art of Collaboration” and “Three Weavers”
• 2000 Patina Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
  • Peterson-Hall Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
• 1999 Russell Hill Rogers Gallery, Southwest School of Art & Craft, San Antonio TX
  • Kansas City Art Institute Alumni Gallery, Kansas City, MO
  • Sybaris Gallery, Royal Oak, MI
• 1998 Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, IL
• 1997 Leedy/Voulkos Gallery, Kansas City, MO
  • Katie Gingrass Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
• 1996 LongHouse Foundation, East Hampton, New York
  • Graham Foundation, Chicago
• 1995 The Sybaris Gallery, Royal Oak, MI
  • Noyes Cultural Arts Center, Evanston, IL
  • Katie Gingrass Gallery, Milwaukee
• 1993 University of Virginia School of Architecture, Charlottesville, VA
• 1991 Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe IL
• 1990 North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks
  • Kemper Gallery, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
  • Lydon Fine Art, Chicago
• 1989 Centre des Arts Visuels, Montreal
• 1988 vanStraaten Gallery, Chicago
• 1987 vanStraaten Gallery, Chicago
  • University of Houston, Architecture Gallery
• 1986 Hadler/Rodriguez Gallery, New York
• 1985 Hadler/Rodriguez Gallery, Houston
• 1984 Ruth Volid Gallery, Chicago
• 1983 Ruth Volid Gallery, Chicago

Selected Group Exhibitions

• 2018 Blue/Green: Color, Context, Code, Brown/Grotta Gallery
• 2017 Still Crazy After All These Years, Brown/Grotta Gallery. 
  •    Fibervisions, Melvin Peterson Gallery, University of Evansville
• 2012-2015 Innovators & Legends Muskegon Museum of Art, traveling exhibition
• 2015 Extreme Fibers: Textile Icons and the New Edge Muskegon Museum of Art
• 2014 SOFA Chicago, Gingrass Gallery
  • Beauty Matters, Eastern KY U
  • 43rd Mid-States Craft Exhibition, Evansville Museum of Art & Science
  • Art from the Heartland, Indianapolis Art Center, Indiana
• 2008 Hibberd McGrath Gallery, Images of Winter
• 2007-08 SOFA Chicago, Patina Gallery
• 2007 Hothouse, Cranbrook Museum & Reading Public Museum, 2007
• 2006 Material Difference, Chicago Cultural Center (Curator: Polly Ulrich, art critic)
• 2004-06 SOFA Chicago, Gingrass Gallery
• 2003 Potting, Planting & Pruning: Artists & The Cultivated Landscape, Racine Art Museum
• 2000-2003 eTextiles, organized by Centre for Contemporary Textiles of Montreal, traveling exhibition venues in Canada, USA, and Australia
  • SOFA Chicago, Katie Gingrass Gallery
• 2002 The Art of the Hand, Wood Street Gallery, Chicago
  • Threads of Memory, Center for the Visual Arts, Metropolitan State College of Denver
  • SOFA Chicago, Katie Gingrass Gallery
• 2001 Field Phenomena, Contemporary Arts Council at TBA Gallery, Chicago
  • Sunflowers, The Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe Illinois
  • In Production, Cranbrook Academy of Art/Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI
  • SOFA, New York & Chicago, Katie Gingrass Gallery
  • New Forms in Fiber, Mobilia Gallery, Cambridge, MA
• 2000 Measure For Measure, H&R Block Artspace, Kansas City
• 1999 Fiberart International ’99, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts
  • SOFA, New York & Chicago, Gingrass Gallery
• 1998 SOFA, New York & Chicago, Gingrass Gallery
• 1997 “Fiber Focus ’97”, Art St. Louis, St Louis, MO. Award of Excellence in Weaving.
  • “Threads: Fiber Art in the 90’s”, New Jersey Center for Visual Arts, Summit NJ
  • 10th Anniversary Show, Brown/Grotta Gallery, Wilton, CT
  • SOFA, Chicago & Miami, Gingrass Gallery & Brown/Grotta Gallery
• 1996 “Bridging Worlds”, Artists’ Jacquard Project, Paley Design Center, Philadelphia and Textile Arts Centre, Chicago
  • “Synergy”, Littman Gallery, Portland State University, Portland, OR
  • SOFA, Chicago and Miami, Katie Gingrass Gallery
• 1995 “Divergent Paths, Woven Connections” Goldstein Gallery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
  • “Sampler Art”, travelling exhibition, Mobilia Gallery, Cambridge, MA; American Museum of Quilts & Textiles, San Jose
  • “The Possibilities of Weaving”, Alaska Pacific University, Anchorage
  • “A Textured Language: Honoring 20 Years of Fiberarts Magazine”, Blue Spiral Gallery, Asheville, NC
  • “Friends of Fiber”, Banaker Gallery, San Francisco
  • SOFA Chicago & Miami, Katie Gingrass Gallery
• 1994 Group Fiber Show, Joanne Rapp Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona
  • SOFA, Chicago; Katie Gingrass Gallery
• 1993 “Cranbrook Convergence”, three alumni, Cranbrook Academy of Art/Museum
  • New Art Forms, Navy Pier, Chicago; Katy Gingrass Gallery
• 1992 “Kindred Visions: Weaver/Storytellers”, Ellipse Art Center, Arlington, Virginia
  • “Textile Traditions/Textile Currents”, Federal Reserve Bank, Chicago.
  • New Art Forms, Navy Pier, Chicago; Katy Gingrass Gallery
• 1990 Tenth Anniversary Exhibition, Textile Arts International, Minneapolis
• 1989 “The Non-Essential Thread: Brocade”, Minneapolis Institute of Arts
  • “Inspired by Architecture”, Textile Arts Centre, Chicago
  • “Brocade: New Beginnings at Cranbrook”, Textile Arts International, Minneapolis
  • “Contemporary Fiber Art”, Oxford Gallery, Rochester, New York
• 1988 “Figure and Place”, Artemisia Gallery, Chicago
  • “Contemporary Textiles”, The Hand & The Spirit Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona
  • “Contemporary Textiles”, Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle
  • “Pictorial and Narrative Fibers”, exhibition originating at Dallas City Hall and traveling throughout the Southwest (catalogue).
  • “The Art of Craft”, Textile Arts Center and Chicago, Merchandise Mart, Chicago
  • “Contemporary Woven Work: America and Abroad”, Kent State University, Ohio
• 1987 “Contemporary Fibers Exhibition”, Contemporary Crafts Gallery, Portland, Oregon
  • “Textile as Language: The Woven Image”, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia
  • “Art & Architecture”, Accurate Gallery, Sacramento, California
• 1986 “Fiber R/Evolution”, travelling show originating at the University of
  • Wisconsin/Milwaukee (catalogue).
  • “Woven Structures”, Texas Woman’s University, Denton, Texas
• 1985 Venice Biennale of Architecture, Venice Italy. Awarded the Leone di Pietra prize
  • “Artists Choose Artists”, Modern Masters Tapestries, New York
  • “A Centennial Celebration: Highlights from Kansas City Art Institute Alumni”, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City
• 1984 “Update: Cranbrook”, Herman Miller Showroom, New York
  • “The Garden: New Form, New Function”, Arrowmont School of Crafts, Gatlinburg, Tennessee
  • “Impulse: New Images in Fabric”, Detroit Artists Market, Detroit
  • “Cranbrook Connection: New Images in Fabric”, The Elements Gallery, New York
• 1983 “Small Scale Fiber”, The Hand & The Spirit Gallery, Scottsdale
  • “Update: Cranbrook”, Robert L. Kidd Gallery, Birmingham, Michigan
• 1982 “Marietta College Crafts National”, Marietta, Ohio
  • “The Dyer’s Art”, Pacific Design Center, Los Angeles
• 1978 “Thirty Miles of Art”, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City
  • “Ceramics & Fiber”, Avila College Art Center, Kansas City
• 1977 “Inaugural Art Exhibition: Critics’ Choice”, Gateway Convention Center, St. Louis
  • “Thirty Miles of Art”, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City

Teaching

• 2003-05: Adjunct professor, Applications for Textiles, Harrington College of Design, Chicago
• 1999 Weaving workshop, Southwest School of Art & Craft, San Antonio TX
• 1996 Color Workshop, Cloth-ing Forum of Interweave Press, Colorado State University, Fort Collins
• 1995 Weaving workshop, Split Rock Arts Program, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
• 1990-94: adjunct faculty, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Fiber Department
• 1990 Lecture & Workshop, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks
• 1987 Visiting Faculty, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, Maine
  • Visiting faculty, summer weaving workshop, University of Washington, Seattle
• 1980 Artist-in-Residence, St. Vincent de Paul Elementary School, Cape Girardeau, Missouri (grant funded by the Missouri Arts Council)
• 1978-80 Creative Arts Teacher, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City

Professional Activity

• At Present: Full time studio artist producing hand woven fine art tapestries. Owner & designer, LFN Textiles, textile design company, since 2000;  household textiles for a variety of companies.
• 2016: Artist-in-Residence, Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island, WA
• 2006-present: Licensed Product & Textile designs for: Crate & Barrel, Land of Nod, Monticello visitors’ center, (home of Thomas Jefferson), Renaissance Ribbons, Jack Lenor Larsen Textiles, Troy Corporation/Riverwoods Fabrics, and others
• 2013 juror, Handweavers Guild of America Small Expressions, Fine Line Arts Center
  • Lecture, North Shore Weavers’ Guild, greater Chicago area
• 2013-14   contributing author, PantoneView.com, articles on color (ongoing)
• 2013-14   Author, series of articles on color in textiles for Shuttle, Spindle & Dyepot, the magazine of the Handweavers’ Guild of America
• 2008-14 Founding chair, Arts in Harmony, annual art fair, New Harmony IN
• 2007 Allied LFN Textiles Artist’s Ribbons with Renaissance Ribbons for exclusive distribution
• 2006-present Designs licensed to Crate & Barrel Inc for domestic textiles
• 2011-present Designs licensed to Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson
• 2009- present Designs licenced to Land of Nod, Children’s Furnishings
• 2006-08:Industry Advisory Board, Savannah College of Art & Design
• 2004: Seminar Leader, Convergence, Handweaver’s Guild of America national conference
  • Visiting Artist, Kansas City Art Institute
• 2000-2014: Scholarship review committee, Handweaver’s Guild of America
• 2002 LFN Textiles switches empha-sis to jacquard ribbon trims.
• 2002 Visiting Artist, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville
• 2000, 2001: Benefit Committee, Renaissance Society, Chicago
• 2000, 2001, 2002: Benefit Host Committee, American Craft Council Chicago Show
• 2000 Founded LFN Textiles, jacquard upholstery fabrics
• 1999 “Mythology” fabric designed for Larsen/Cowtan & Tout
• 1996-1999 Board of Directors, Textile Arts Centre, Chicago
• 1998 Panelist, Textile Society of American Biannual conference, New York
• 1997 Lecture, San Diego Weavers’ Guild, San Diego, CA
  • Lecture, Wisconsin Weavers’ Guild, Milwaukee
  • Lecture, St. Andrew’s Society, Hinsdale, IL
  • Lecture, DuPage County Weavers’ Guild, Hinsdale, IL
• 1996 Juror, St. Louis Art Fair, St. Louis, MO
  • Visiting Artist, Savannah College of Art & Design
• 1995 Chair, Program Committee, Textile Arts Centre
  • Juror, Members’ Exhibition, Textile Arts Centre
  • Visiting Artists Jacquard Project, Philadelphia College of Textiles & Design
  • Lecture, Cranbrook Academy of Art
• 1994 Visiting Artist, Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science, Weave Department
• 1993 Lecture, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
  • Lecture, University of Virginia, School of Architecture, Charlottesville
• 1991 Lecture, North Shore Weavers’ Guild, Chicago
  • Lecture, Madison Weavers’ Guild, Madison, Wisconsin
  • Lecture, Colorado State University, Fort Collins
• 1989 Jacquard Knitting Workshop, Centre des Arts Visuels, Montreal
  • Lecture, University of the Arts, Philadelphia
• 1988 Seminar Leader, Convergence ’88, Conference of the Handweavers’ Guild of America
  • Lecture, New York Institute of Technology, Old Westbury, New York
  • Lecture, Cranbrook Academy of Art
  • Lecture, Center for Creative Studies, Detroit
  • Lecture, North Shore Weavers’ Guild, Chicago
• 1986 Lecture, Kansas City Art Institute
  • Lecture, University of Kansas at Lawrence
• 1985   Lecture, Boston University, Program in Artisanry
  • Lecture, University of Houston, College of Architecture
• 1983 Oriental Rug Restoration, The Nomad’s Loom, Chicago
• 1982 Weaving workshop, Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, New York
• 1980-82 work study with textile collection, Cranbrook Academy of Art/Museum
•  

Writing

• 2014 Shuttle, Spindle and Dyepot, Spring 2014, Pantone® and the World of Designed Color, feature article.
  • Pantoneview.com, February 2014: Houston International Quilt Market, feature article.
  • Pantoneview.com, May 2014: Natural Dyes in Artists’ Hands, feature article.
• 2013 Shuttle, Spindle, and Dyepot, Winter 2013/14: Exploring Color and Weave, feature article.
  • Shuttle, Spindle, and Dyepot, Fall 2013: Interlacing Color, feature article.
  • Pantoneview.com, July 2013: Interlacing Color, feature article
  • Pantoneview.com, May 2013: Jacco Olivier: a Tempest of Contrasts, feature article.
• 1990 Fiberarts Magazine, November/December 1990, “Donna Durbin: Rites of Passage”, feature article.
• 1986 American Craft Magazine, February/March 1986, “Villa Farsetti: A Weaver’s Rendering”, feature article.

Bibliography (selected):

• 2011 Pasatiempo, Santa Fe, October 2011; Paul Weideman, “Covered in Bees! Laura Foster Nicholson”
• 2006 Shuttle, Spindle & Dyepot, Fall 2006,Gussie Fauntleroy, “Life in the Creative Stream”
• 2005 Design & Architecture Magazine, April 2005; Tony Adler, “Dream Weaver”, artist portrait
  • Shuttle, Spindle & Dyepot, Spring 2005, Gussie Fauntleroy: “Laura Foster Nicholson”, feature article.
• 2004 Mary Engelbreit’s Home Companion Magazine, February 2004 “Artist’s Workshop”, feature article on LFN Studio
•  2001 Chicago Tribune Magazine, December 16, Karen Klages, “Women of the cloth: Four Female Designers Leading the Wave of Innovation in Textiles for Interiors”.
•  2001 Fiberarts Magazine, Summer 2001, Polly Ullrich, “Of Kitchen Gardens and Melon Ballers”, feature article.
•  2000 American Craft Magazine, December 1999-January 2000, “Collectors at Home: A Conversation with Marc & Diane Grainer”, illustrations.
•  1999 Fiberarts Magazine, Summer 1999, Polly Ullrich, “Beyond Touch: The Body as Perceptual Tool”; illustrations, discussion.
• 1999 Architectural Digest Magazine, May 1999, “AD at Large: Weaving Art in Chicago”.
• 1996 Shuttle,Spindle, and Dyepot, Summer 1996, cover; Margo Mensing, “Enter: Repeat”, illustrations.
  • Nouvel Objet, Design House, Seoul, Korea; subject of article & illustrations.
  •  The Crafts Report, November 1996, Noelle Backer, “Laura Foster Nicholson:
  •  Fiber Artist with Visions of the Garden”, interview.
•  1995 American Craft Magazine, February 1995, Jody Clowes, “Laura Foster Nicholson: Weaving Meditations and Maps”.
• 1994 Fiberarts Magazine, Nov/Dec 1994, David D.J. Rau, “The Woven Gardens of Laura Foster Nicholson”.
• 1992 Fiberarts Magazine, Jan/Feb 1992, Kathleen McCann, “The Art of Collecting”, illustration.
• 1991 American Craft Magazine, December ’91/January ’92, “Exhibitions”, illustration.
• 1987 Fiberarts Design Book Three, Kate Matthews, Editor; illustration.
• 1986 Who’s Who in American Art, 17th Edition.
  • Fiber R/Evolution, catalogue, University of Wisconsin/Milwaukee and Milwaukee Art Museum. Illustrations and essay.
• 1985 Terza Mostra Internazionale de Architettura, catalogue of The Venice Biennale of Architecture. Illustrations and mentions in jurors’ essays
  • The Architecture Review, London, October 1985, “Progetto Venezia”, review & illustrations.
  • de Architect, Netherlands, September 1985, “Architectuur-biennale Venetie 1985”, review & illustrations.
  • Wonen Archis Tabk, Netherlands, September 1985, “Progetto Venezia”, review & illustrations
  • Cite, Architecture & Design Review of Houston, Winter ’85/86 “Houston at the Venice Biennale: Villa Farsetti: A Garden in Silk & Wool”. Author, article & illustrations.
  • Casa Vogue, Italy, September 1985, “Biennale Architettura — Venezia: Capitale del Progetto”, review & illustration.
• 1984 American Craft Magazine, “Commissions”, illustration.