Dallas Area Fiber Artists
1970-2026
Moving Fiber Arts Forward
For more than half a century, Dallas Area Fiber Artists played an integral role in the development and advancement of textile and fiber arts in North Texas. During this time its members won countless national and international awards, published books, taught classes, and helped elevate fiber arts to new heights in the 21st century.
From 1970 to 2026, the organization served as a launching pad for emerging Texas artists and was a networking and professional development group that helped its members gain recognition and acclaim for their work. It also harnessed the collective talents of its members in a variety of charitable and community service projects.
Most of all, it helped many hundreds of artists find a kindred community and establish lifelong friendships that continue to this very day.
A Brief History of DAFA
Dallas Area Fiber Artists (DAFA) originated in 1970, when several Dallas embroiderers took a stitchery class taught by Mary Heikman, a Houston art teacher who was instrumental in forming the Houston Area Fiber Artists (HAFA) group. DAFA was initially named Creative Stitchers but soon changed its name to Dallas Fiber Artists, reflecting the members’ much more eclectic and wide-ranging experience in all areas of the textile arts.
After San Antonio area artists also formed a fiber-art collective (SAFA), the Texas Federation of Fiber Artists was established as an umbrella organization to include all three groups. The Federation held its first exhibition in Dallas in 1972 and then held conferences in alternating chapter’s cities. These conferences included a juried show, a variety of fiber technique classes, and many social gatherings that fostered the exchange of ideas and community.
The first annual DAFA show was displayed at the Town East Mall and was juried by Susan Brown. Over the next six decades, the organization held exhibitions in galleries, libraries, banks, NorthPark Mall, Dallas Love Field, Keller Town Hall, Granville Arts Center, Irving Arts Center, Addison Town Center, Lovers Lane Methodist Church, and C.C. Young Retirement Center.
In 2007, with the building of the new The Point Center for Arts and Education at C.C. Young Retirement Center, DAFA found its final home for meetings, programs, and its annual shows. This partnership with C.C. Young eventually grew to include collaborative art shows and community service projects.
Community Service
DAFA provided scholarships to UNT Fibers Program graduates, high school and elementary fiber classes, online fiber education projects, and countless children’s and women’s groups. It also donated large sums of money, through grants and fundraising auctions, to Alzheimer’s research.
The Legacy Continues
The multi-talented members who helped DAFA grow for 56 years were deeply committed, year after year, to the group’s mission of educating the public, especially aspiring artists, about fiber art and its place in contemporary society and culture.
Although the membership of Dallas Area Fiber Artists voted in 2026 to disband, its legacy will continue to be vividly seen in the artistic careers of its members and through the thousands of North Texas residents whose lives were touched through its work.