A tapestry that once hung in Creston Town Hall has been returned to its original location.
Wigwams, a creation by fibre artist Lika Meers-Skarzynska, was loaned to the Town more than 20 years ago, with an agreement that it would become Town of Creston property as part of her estate.
When renovations were being done at Town Hall, Meers-Skarzynska was asked to remove the tapestry for its safety, and was later informed that there was no room for it, she said last week.
“It is my great honour to accept this beautiful creation,” Mayor Ron Toyota said last Thursday,” as he stood beside Wigwams with the 86-year-old artist.
Now, instead of simply being hung on the office wall, Wigwams is protected in a frame, made by Wendy Berge of Wendy’s Custom Framing.
“Wendy does a beautiful job with my tapestries,” Meers-Skarzynska said. “Now the moths can’t eat them!”
A self-taught tapestry artist, Meers-Skarzynska meticulously dyed, carded, spun and wove with New Zealand wool, working from her own sketches. She has pieces in private galleries and collections across Canada and in Europe. Several are on permanent display at Creston’s Holy Cross Church, where she is a parishioner. One, Madonna, was blessed by the Pope when she took it to the Vatican in the 1990s.
Born in pre-World War II Poland, Meers-Skarzynska was a creative force, learning to make life-size puppets that became part of a children’s television show she hosted.
“I always liked arts and crafts,” she said. Wigwams was made in 1983, nine years after she had emigrated to Canada.
Her final piece, The Perils, is now on display at the Creston Museum.
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