Bicentennial Tapestries

The bicentennical tapestries were woven by Dr. Ivan Crowell. Five of the tapestries were formally presented to the University at a ceremony in the Arts Centre on February 1st, 1981. They form a series of twelve, which were donated by Dr. Crowell as a Bicentennial gift.

The tapestries are based on silkscreen prints or drawings by Reginald Bailey and Bruno Bobak. In the corner of each tapestry is woven the artist's initials and those of Dr. Crowell. Full sizes cartoons, or patterns, were prepared from the artists' prints by Marjory Donaldson, with the exception of the trees, which were drawn in by Mr. Bobak. The cartoons are located in UNB Archives & Special Collections.

From the cartoons, Dr. Crowell transferred the design to the warp threads on his loom. The (horizontal) weft, or woof threads, are then interwoven in the various colours to re-create the design. The weaving of each 65" x 44" tapestry took Dr. Crowell at least 26 eight-hour days, plus another week of hand sewing to reinforce the tapestry and finish the edges.