Textile artist Dawn Murtaugh used recycled fabrics to create “Steamboat Springs,” a piece she created based on a photograph taken by her husband. Murtaugh’s 18-piece exhibition opens June 9 in SIU Carbondale’s Sharp Museum. (Photo by Russell Bailey)
June 03, 2026
SIU Sharp Museum textile exhibition highlights sustainability
CARBONDALE, Ill. — For Dawn Murtaugh, becoming a textile artist has been a “circular adventure.”
It began when she was a child watching her mother and other women creatively quilt and sew — often with old clothing and bits of leftover fabric -- and her father transforming bits of wood into decorative and beautiful objects.
“The main narrative was always, ‘What can we do to make useful and beautiful objects instead of making garbage?’” she said. Murtaugh’s 18-piece textiles exhibition opens Tuesday, June 9, in Southern Illinois University Carbondale Sharp Museum’s Hall of Art in South Hall. The exhibit runs through Aug. 28, with an artist talk set for 3 p.m. and a reception from 4-6 p.m.
Works focus on recycled scrap material
Murtaugh uses recycled and reclaimed materials to create tapestries depicting the universe, ocean and trees. Noting that she grew up in a “maker’s mode,” Murtaugh, who lives in Evansville, Indiana, said art was her focus in high school and college and later as a teacher. She earned a degree in art from St. Xavier College.
“Inspiration and ideas flowed, but life took me to other places,” she said.
Murtaugh says she started traditional quilting later in life – once she and her husband became “empty nesters” in a house that suddenly seemed too big. She started out using fabrics inherited from her mother.
“Using old jeans, fabric scraps and a stash of quilting fabric from my dreams of ‘some day,’ I started playing and creating scenes of water,” she said. “Eventually I received a grant to create an exhibit using denim and a wide variety of other scrap fabric to draw people’s attention to the environmental impact in the production and wearing of denim products.”
Wants to bring attention to ‘throw-away culture’
Murtaugh’s daughter creates costumes for ballets, opera and theater, which provides Murtaugh with a variety of fabric scraps, along with used wedding gowns, upholstery fabric, old lace and other material that would otherwise be destined for the garbage..
“I believe that our manufactured fabrics hold memories, as well as being part of the continual regeneration of the fabric of the universe,” she said, adding that her work has led her to “deeper research on the detrimental impact of fabric and fast fashion.”
“I hope that these images of natural beauty will bring attention to the worldwide disaster of textile pollution from the production and hyper-consumerism in our throw-away culture,” she said. “The infinitesimally small amount of fabric used to create this art is barely a speck of dust by comparison. It is my intention to raise awareness of the beauty in our cosmos that is at risk and begin making small changes with a large impact.”
Using the magic ‘3 R’s’
T. Lance, the museum’s curator of exhibits, said the solo show concentrates on sustainability and beautifying the world “through the magic 3 R’s — Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.”
“The way Murtaugh paints with fabric, challenging herself with each new piece, is inspiring,” Lance said. “Her vision behind her work reminds me of the artist Tara Donovan in the way she explores the transformative effects of accumulation, especially in Murtaugh’s cosmic pieces, which contain fabric confetti held together by a mesh layer intricately sewn in place.”
Murtaugh’s work is part of an overall exhibition highlighting sustainability — one of SIU Carbondale’s pillars — in a “thoughtful and creative way,” Lance said. The “Fuller Futures — Art and Artifacts” exhibit in the museum’s Study Gallery celebrates futurist, architect, designer and former SIU faculty member R. Buckminster Fuller. Known for his emphasis on sustainability and environment, Fuller wanted “to make the world work for 100% of humanity,” Lance said.
“Part of that vision includes creative problem-solving, like how Murtaugh does by recycling fabric in our age of fast fashion,” Lance added.
As with all exhibitions, the artwork represents the viewpoints of its creators, not SIU. SIU complies with the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act and State Officials and Employees Ethics Act.
Museum hours
For more information on the exhibitions, contact Lance at 618-453-5388 or t.lance@siu.edu or visit museum.siu.edu. Sharp Museum hours are noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 1-4 p.m. Saturday. The museum is closed Sunday and Monday, and during all SIU breaks and holidays. The museum will be closed through June 6 for intersession and resume normal hours on June 9.