BY Rebeca Schiller | September 2, 2010

TAFA Pushes Artists' Boundaries

There's a new kid --well, actually a resource -- on the block. It's called The Textile and Fiber Arts List (www.tafalist.com), and since its inception, it’s been weaving a tight, and intimate community among textile, fiber artists, suppliers, and galleries.

Rachel Biel, TAFA List's founder, started the directory primarily out of her own personal frustrations with selling handicrafts online. Pioneer online sellers, like Biel, who used eBay as their storefront vehicle had a strong following with a supportive niche who bought from her and others. However, as the market expanded with the Internet becoming more accessible in remote places of the world, American artisans discovered that they were competing with their Tibetan, Uzbek, Bolivian and other international counterparts who sold their work at much lower prices.

Biel grasped early on that with the support from her online community and growing it, she could still keep her business competitive. Belonging to numerous and scattered online networks, Biel discovered that she kept "bumping" into the same people repeatedly, and came to the realization that many of her artist peers had no understanding of how to put all the social marketing pieces together. After two years of providing technical assistance for online shops such as Heart of Healing Gallery, Afghan Tribal Arts, FiberFocus; and helping members with social media and blogging tips, Biel decided to create The TAFA List.

The list serves as a directory cum database where people can find one another by common interests, location, techniques and other needs in the textile and fiber art community. Biel explains, "I put it together and approached people that I knew first, and the concept was well received.  Many of the members are learning how to integrate their presence on the web because they have to gather their info for TAFA and they see how others do it, too."

Biel hopes corporate buyers will support the list's art quilters and weavers, and she envisions the site as the must go directory for galleries to visit and discover new artists to represent; for bloggers in this category to drop by and look for inspiration; for consumer to find a unique and special fabric or fiber art piece; and for textile students researching workshops. Biel says, "Many of us are Etsy sellers and I am hoping that we can become the cream of the crop of Etsy's fiber art and textile community." 

To become a member of the TAFA List, Biel looks at a possible member's site and evaluates them on their online presentation, their product, and how as a member they can benefit the community. Biel explains that the goal behind TAFA is to provide larger markets for established online businesses, and she wants vertical organizations, such as galleries, publications, writers, teachers, photographers, designers and technical assistance to become a part of the list.

TAFA membership is not open beginners or hobbyists. To join the list, artists' products should have real "value" in terms of historical context, construction, and materials used.  Biel's personal bias leans toward cultural textiles, fair trade products, recycled or organically grown materials, and textile or fiber art pieces that have a unique perspective.  Member artists must work with their own designs—no kits or commercial patterns, unless they've been developed by the artist. Membership to be on the list costs $48.00.

Because TAFA is still at an early phase, Biel's plans is to grow the list's membership, and that includes employing the basic principles of the blogging and social media world -- exchanges on blog rolls, using Facebook as a vehicle to spread the word about new developments to fans, and investing time on search engine optimization. Down the road, Biel envisions certain activities such as retreats geared towards helping members improve their online presence, applying for grants to develop a non-profit arm that would provide member support.

The TAFA List is a labor of love for Biel. It's been her personal crusade to narrow the divide between artists working in the developed world and those living in traditional communities or villages, making cultural textiles. She says, "My hope is that TAFA will also become a bridge. Several TAFA members do wonderful work by offering cultural tours or by working with communities as artists. I want TAFA to reflect the whole range of possibilities that are found both in the experimental boundaries that are pushed by contemporary fiber artists and in the masterworks that have been handed down by tradition and culture."

To learn more about The Tafa List and its membership, or to become a member, please visit www.tafalist.com.