When she’s not tending to her Japanese indigo plants or harvesting natural materials to create dyes and inks for fiber and art projects, visual artist, educator and researcher Judy Saye-Willis is promoting and teaching art creation.
She’s served on the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council (SEMAC) board, the Minnesota State Arts board and as a member on the Rice County grant panel review board.
In 2021, she received a Creative Support for Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board.
As a co-founder of the annual Studio ArTour in South Central Minnesota now celebrating their 20th year of success, Saye-Willis has opened her own studio doors to the public, as well as encouraged other area artists to do so too.
Living Treasure Award recipient
This month, Saye-Willis will receive the 2024 Living Treasure Award by the city of Northfield and the Northfield Arts and Culture Commission.
A physicist at heart with the soul of an artist, Saye-Willis teaches and tutors, creates and coaches.
“I’ve been fortunate to have a diverse group of students from Carleton College and St. Olaf in my studio,” she said. “I learn from them.”
As a fiber artist for most of her life, Saye-Willis said her work has been rich in texture with exciting color, has strong eye appeal and often a message of environmental stewardship.
“When I discovered natural dyes, I read everything I could find about the cultures, history, geography and politics that surround textiles and natural dyes,” she said. “I also discovered that I could locally forage for dye materials in the prairies, ditches, woodlands, by the streams and in some of my friend’s gardens. I was seeing Natures Gentle Colors in a whole new way.”
Saye-Willis asked her mentor, Michel Garcia, for recipes and processes. “He finally told me to use my eyes and head,” she said. “That has served me well. I can now collaborate with the materials having mastered techniques. However, I still have green stains on my knees.”
Her studio in the woods in Bridgewater Township sits across from the home she shares with husband Tom, who is a potter and has his own art studio. Her studio looks more like a chemistry laboratory with its containers of fermenting dye, heaters and than an artist’s enclave.
“Hope you don’t mind the smell,” she said.
Out her western window she’s growing goldenrod, madder, cosmos, weld, tansy, marigolds and Queen Anne’s Lace in her wildflower garden that she will later harvest for colored dyes and ink.
To produce natural color dyes, the artist also uses kitchen scraps such as avocado, pomegranate, sumac, rhubarb root, and turmeric. “I just want a recipe,” she said.
Water, cut, ferment. That’s the typical cycle for turning plants into dyes and inks. “My favorite ink is made from ripe buckthorn berries,” she explained. “It is a magical green that often starts out as a sap green and then shifts over time.”
As for using local natural fibers, Saye-Willis said she uses wool, mohair and alpaca. “I have dyed yarns from Cannon River Animal Farm and they are soft and dye beautifully.”
In 2021, Saye-Willis was a recipient of a Creative Support for Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. She used the grant to produce an instructional booklet “Nature’s Gentle Colors: Close to Home.”
When she’s in her studio, Saye-Willis said she loves to experiment.
Paula Granquist, Chair and Martha Anderson, Vice-Chair of the Northfield Arts and Culture Commission, said they are recognizing Saye-Willis for “the quality of her textile, jewelry, and book art and her contributions over the past 50 years to the arts community in Northfield.”
In an official statement from the commission, Saye-Willis has earned the title for being a leader in the artistic community and for sharing her expertise in art, while generously mentored many fellow artists in studio practices and grant writing.
“As an artist, she has exhibited widely at galleries throughout the region,” said Granquist and Anderson. “Her current artwork focuses on the use of natural pigments and dyes that evoke the colors of Northfield through her use of locally grown and foraged materials.”
“As an artist, she has exhibited widely at galleries throughout the region,” they said. “Her current artwork focuses on the use of natural pigments and dyes that evoke the colors of Northfield through her use of locally grown and foraged materials.”
She is a leader in the artistic community and has shared her expertise in art and has generously mentored many fellow artists in studio practices and grant writing. She is also a Saye-Willis will be honored during the annual State of the City Address on March 19, held once again at the The Weitz Center for Creativity, 320 3rd St E in Northfield.
According to the city of Northfield, the annual Living Treasure award “honors those individuals who have, over a long period of time, made significant contributions to Northfield in, through, or on behalf of arts and culture, so as to enhance the reputation of the city and the quality of life of its residents and visitors.”
The award recognizes that an artist who has been influential in shaping the community’s culture, “encompasses the whole of the community’s intellectual and social formation, including its work, thoughts, behaviors, and beliefs as manifested through the arts, food, oral languages, dress, homes, recreation, history, landscape, rituals, traditions, celebrations and festivals.”
“I teach process,” said Saye-Willis, as she pointed to various pieces of equipment around her studio. An upcoming class at the Paradise Center for the Arts in Faribault, “Making Inks — A Quick Study” will be held on Saturday, March 30th from 9 a.m. — 12 p.m.
In this class, participants will learn several ways to extract color from flowers, buckthorn berries and dried marigolds, walnuts and indigo paste to ultimately make inks and binders.
“We are surrounded by color and with some coaxing we can make paints, inks, dyes and more from plants, food scraps, trees, and flowers from the garden,” she said.
PREVIOUS WINNERS Past recipients of the Living Treasure Award include: 2023: Wayne Kivell, Vocal music teacher, found, director of choir ensembles 2020 -/21: Mac Gimse, Sculptor, poet and teacher 2019 Donna Paulsen, Multi-talented musician and teacher 2018 Judy Code, Gardening artist and photographer 2017 Judith Swanson, Advocate, artist, designer, graphics designer 2016 Jan Shoger, Artist, teacher 2015 Theo & Dewayne Wee, Musicians, teachers 2014 Patsy Dew, Arts programmer, photographer, community theater director, actress 2013 Paul Niemisto Musician, band director, founder of Vintage Band Festival 2012 Cora Schultz, Musician, founder and director of Northfield Youth Choirs 2011 Myrna Johnson, Founder of the Northfield Arts Guild Theater, director and performer 2010 Raymond Jacobson, Sculpture/visual arts; major works at Bridge Square River Walk, Carleton College, the Northfield Public Library 53a874f7-996c-48b1-8c85-14d18b415e3c
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