Rachel A. MacGillivray

Rachel A. McGillivray, Log Cabin Security, 2019

From Glengarry County, Eastern Ontario, Rachel A. MacGillivray is a multi-disciplinary textile artist and Mother who has made her home near Fredericton, NB. Working with natural materials, especially wool, is a cornerstone of her practice which includes knitting, stitching, spinning, and gardening. Moved by the connections we all seem to make with cloth and clothing, reusing garments and old textiles is important in her studio as are sustainability and the local textiles movement. Like many, the pandemic experience has greatly affected her work and she’s now breaking out of the boundaries of her studio and leaning into gardening as artistic exploration. The realities of Motherhood, and the blurring of all aspects of her life have also had critical impacts on her work and perspective.

Rachel is an instructor and Studio Head of Textile Design at the New Brunswick College of Craft & Design. Her work has been exhibited in museums and galleries including The Louvre, Canadian War Museum, Andrew & Laura McCain Gallery, and The Okanagan Heritage Museum. She has been the recipient of ArtsNB Creation Grants and national awards. Passionate about sharing her love of textiles, her writings have been published in PLY Magazine and Created Here.

Thanks to the support of Connexion Artist Run Centre, and their Connexion Exchange Mentorship Program, Rachel has become involved with the ECH through a mentorship with Ron Benner.

Find more on her website: rachelmac.space

Recent Works

Devolution Triptych, 2018

Group Shot - Hers, 2019

Mummalien, 2018

Quilt Study #14 Rust, 2017

Shouldering it all, 2020

Indigo Lake, 2017

Worn, Not Worthless, 2020-21

WIP, 2021

EDITORIAL TEAM

ONLINE FOUNDER
Tariq Hassan Gordon

COFOUNDERS & CURATORIAL ADVISORS
Jamelie Hassan & Ron Benner

ADVISORY CIRCLE
Samer Abdelnour, Marnie Fleming, Wyn Geleynse, Fern Helfand, S F Ho, Lorraine Klaasen, Judith Rodger, Ruth Skinner, Mary Lou and Dan Smoke,  and Lucas Stenning

COORDINATING EDITORS
Tariq Hassan Gordon & Olivia Mossuto

WEB DESIGN & SOCIAL MEDIA
Tariq Hassan Gordon, Ira Kazi, Olivia Mossuto, Niloufar Salimi, JoAnna Weil

VIRTUAL TOUR
Andreas Buchwaldt

PRINT PUBLICATIONS
Blessy Augustine, Shelley Kopp, Olivia Mossuto

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Andreas Buchwaldt, Blessy Augustine, Anahí González, Ira Kazi, Shelley Kopp, Ashar Mobeen, Niloufar Salimi,  Jenna Rose Sands, JoAnna Weil & Michelle Wilson.

OUR STORY

Artists Jamelie Hassan and Ron Benner and jazz musician Eric Stach founded the Embassy Cultural House (1983-1990) located in the restaurant portion of the Embassy Hotel at 732 Dundas Street in East London. Other former members of the board were: Debrann Eastabrook, Henry Eastabrook, Sharron Forrest, Wyn Geleynse, Janice Gurney, Jean Hay (1929 - 2008), Doug Mitchell, Kim Moodie, Gerard Pas, Peter Rist, Wanda Sawicki, Jean Spence and Jennie White. In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Embassy Cultural House was re-envisioned as a virtual artist-run space and website.

This project is supported by the Ontario Arts Council and the London Arts Council through the City of London's Community Arts Investment Program.

Thank you to our partners

E M B A S S Y C U L T U R A L H O U S E . C A

London, Ontario is on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Lenape, Attawandaron and Huron-Wendat peoples, at the forks of Deshkan Ziibi (Antler River), an area subject to the Dish with One Spoon Wampum and other treaties.