Carole Harris is a Detroit-based fiber artist known for pushing the boundaries of traditional quilting through improvisation, layered textures, and unconventional materials. Drawing inspiration from global textiles, urban landscapes, and the rhythms of Detroit, her work reflects a deep engagement with color, pattern, and the passage of time.
Harris earned a BFA from Wayne State University in 1966. Her decades-long career as an interior designer shaped the architectural themes in her early quilts. Today, she uses a wide range of materials—including vintage fabrics, hand-dyed cloth, found objects, and collage—often altered by dyeing, painting, or even burning, to create densely layered textile compositions.
Harris’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery, the Museum of Arts and Design, and in Europe, Japan, and South America. A 2015 Kresge Visual Arts Fellow, she continues to exhibit widely and is an active lecturer and juror in the field.
PRESENTATION DETAILS
Panel discussion with Carole Harris, Cyrah Dardas, and Taylor Childs
Thursday 04/29/27: 4:00pm (Cranbrook Auditorium)
In this panel, the Head of Fiber at Cranbrook Academy of Art, Joey Quiñones, will moderate a discussion between artists Carole Harris, Cyrah Dardas, and Taylor Childs. These artists have deep connections with the city of Detroit, and all use fiber and quilting in their work as a way to connect, heal, and preserve stories.