Southeast Fiber Arts Alliance

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The Southeast Fiber Arts Alliance (SEFAA) is a new nonprofit organization dedicated to providing fiber arts education and to promoting and preserving the fiber arts.  SEFAA's goal is to develop a comprehensive fiber art center in Atlanta, Georgia with a vibrant and creative atmosphere that will engage and enrich anyone with an interest in fiber. 

Unlike the numerous existing art centers, galleries, and exhibition spaces in Atlanta, SEFAA will focus on fiber, filling a large and critical void in the arts landscape. 

As Leisa Rich, SEFAA Director, puts it:  "I see SEFAA as a place where fiber artists can interact and learn from one another, where classes and workshops open new doors to the public, and where there is validation of fiber arts as a 'real' art form—a vibrant, thriving, growing, ever-changing and dynamic place to be, learn and grow!"

SEFAA began in 2008 as an offshoot of the Chattahoochee Handweavers Guild's (CHG'S) Long Range Planning Committee.  A priority of the Planning Committee was to find a permanent home for the guild, but CHG resources didn't match the group's dream to lease or purchase larger facilities.  Realizing that other fiber organizations were in the same position, and on the premise that it takes a community to build a fiber center, CHG contacted other local fiber organizations.  SEFAA was born after members of the Atlanta Knitting Guild, The Dogwood Chapter of the Embroiderers Guild of America, the local chapter of the Surface Design Association and interested individuals started meeting together.  Over the course of 2009, SEFAA incorporated, registered with the State of Georgia as a Charitable Organization, and secured 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status from the IRS.

The new organization's goals for 2010 are fundraising, fundraising, and more fundraising!  In addition, SEFAA plans to find space to lease to begin limited programming and, hopefully, to provide studio space.  Given the state of economy, this may be a difficult process.  But, SEFAA is optimistic! 

As Suzi Gough, President of SEFAA, says:  “What excites me about SEFAA is that it is an alliance of individuals, organizations and businesses sharing resources and ideas and working together.  Just yesterday, members of the Dogwood Chapter of the Embroiderers Guild of America were invited to attend the Chattahoochee Handweavers Guild February meeting for the Georgia premier of Isadora Gabrielle Leidenfrost’s  Creating Buddhas: The Making and Meaning of Fabric Thangkas.  SEFAA is already intertwining the fiber arts community!”

In the following months, SEFAA will have booths at both the Original Sewing and Quilt EXPO at the Gwinnett Center March 11th through the 13th, and at STITCHES South  at the Cobb Galleria April 22nd through the 25th. 

Visit if you can, and if you're not in Atlanta this spring, please email us with any questions, ideas, or suggestions.  Also, keep an eye out for SEFAA's website.  It is currently in development and should be online in the near future.

SEFAA is a membership organization and anyone with an interest in fiber is encouraged to join. 

Become involved in SEFAA.  Share your love of fiber and be a part of a unique and all-encompassing fiber art experience, one that Leisa Rich aptly describes as "infinite, tactile and connected to what it means to be human."  Remember, it takes a community, the fiber arts community, to build a fiber center.