The winner of the Betty and Clay Smith Award for 2021 is Angela Rhilinger.
Angela Rhilinger was a fourth-year student at the University of North Georgia majoring in English Literature. Currently a Studio Art minor, Angela plans to apply for a second major in Studio Art with a concentration in Weaving in her final semester, as per school protocol. Angela first began weaving in an introductory textiles class where it was included as a project. In every subsequent semester, Angela has continued to weave and was inspired to pursue a second major by her love of weaving.
After graduating from UNG, Angela hopes to attend graduate school for linguistics, continuing to weave in the meantime. She would like to be able to sell her weavings in the future and hopefully gain some online following posting about her artistic pursuits. She hopes to begin uploading videos about her creating process in order to draw more attention to the art of weaving and help to promote an understanding of where textiles come from. Angela is interested in pursuing a sustainable craft and hopes to encourage others to think more critically about the environmental impacts of the fashion and textile industries.
The generous cash award provided by the Chattahoochee Handweavers Guild will be put towards the purchase of a floor loom to begin building Angela’s home weaving studio, which she hopes to have ready for use before the end of her final weaving class at UNG.
