Dr. Jennifer Salahub

Jennifer E. Salahub is Professor Emerita of Art, Craft, and Design History, Alberta University of the Arts (AUArts) and for the past 15 years has been on the Board of the Alberta Craft Council (ACC). She grew up in Ottawa – and still has a canoe at the cottage in Gatineau. She and her husband moved often during the first years of their marriage meaning that her BFA was made up of classes taken at Carleton, U of Waterloo, and Concordia. She completed a degree a decade (you can’t rush these things) – the last, the Royal College of Art in London where she was awarded a PhD in Design History. Her love of textiles and craft is long standing, reflecting her professional and personal life. She has taught in Montreal, Ottawa, and, since 2002, Calgary.

Although “retired” she continues to research, write and lecture on art and craft and is fascinated by the unexplored (neglected and lost) early history of craft and craft education in Alberta. In other words, she sees the world through “craft-coloured” glasses – perhaps heart-shaped frames? She is proud to say that she has always been object-obsessed – always wanting to know how it is made – and set about learning various skill sets – so she could write about them! When she wrote about Quebec samplers for her MFA she was embroidering and when she was teaching textile history at Concordia, she was studying textile science at McGill. She practices the textile handshake (reaching out to touch and identify scarfs, lapels, sweaters.) When friends are suffering, she bakes broken heart cookies.

Jennifer is a reader of mysteries – an explorer of rabbit holes – an unraveller of clews/clues [did you know a clew is a ball of yarn – the answer to a puzzle – what Ariadne gave Theseus to find his way out of the Labyrinth?].