Rachel Biel is stitching her way toward a dream. She plans to quilt together the pieces of a creative life—an artist community, a lower cost of living, milder weather, less traffic and land for her four dogs. Biel has organized her own raffle to raise funds to move to the epicenter of American quilting, Paducah, Kentucky. The winner of the raffle gains a personal prize—a customized quilt from the artist herself.
Paducah is home to one of the largest quilting museum in the States. The city is also fostering its own renaissance through an inspired arts development program. Community leaders have worked through the city to start an Artist Relocation program, just a 6-hour drive, but years in urban planning from Chicago. Artists are offered exceptional home loans to develop property and create a vibrant aspect to Paducah life within a specified arts district.
Biel’s own story is a crazy patchwork of diverse experiences. The daughter of missionaries, she grew up in a city in Brazil. She remembers summer storms of pink skies and pelting rain, playing basketball with her father under the mango tree, stove-roasted French bread with dripping butter and her big house filled with laughter and endless craft projects. College in Minnesota had a different texture—weather hovering around 20 degrees in the leaden winter, studies of political science, religion and sociology, and other International friends from countries she knew little about. Her experience to impact other cultures and honor other values stayed with her and grew.
Chicago began Biel’s next layer of life. After four years of social service with Chicago Uptown Ministry, Association House, Traveler’s and Immigrants Aid, Biel found that art relieved her from the stress of trying to help the downtrodden. When Uptown Center Hull House created 4th World Artisans Cooperative, a store which promoted economic development through the sale and marketing of local and developing country handicrafts, Biel managed the co-op. Four more years passed until Biel struck out on her own--with a history and commitment of fellow artisans and small importers. She went on to open three other stores in the Chicago area over the next sixteen years: Pachamama’s Hovel in Wicker Park, Folkarte in Lakeview and Dara Tribal Village, with partner Abdul Wardak of Afghanistan, in East Village. All three stores emphasized fair trade, multi-cultural discourse and of course, the imaginative textiles she loved.
It’s a hard fact that artistically-oriented businesses often struggle with Chicago’s high-priced realty and can’t always afford to continue their visions. Biel’s solution was to search elsewhere for a greener spot, milder weather, affordable housing and a more pocket-friendly business rental market. The runners-up were Asheville, North Carolina and Hot Springs, Arkansas. But Paducah, Kentucky struck Biel as an exceptional opportunity—with loan backing, a vibrant artistic community and a gentle living environment. She can be near Chicago while exploring the alternative lifestyle in a small town. The struggle of every artist to survive in an urban environment will be lessened and allow her to expend her energy on quilting and piecing her ideal life together.
There’s just a small gap. Biel will need a $ 6,000 down payment to invest in her own arts property in Paducah. She plans to quilt and teach there and hopes that Paducah will become a retreat for Chicagoans who need a respite from the city. The city of Chicago is still a vital part of Biel’s life. She refers to it as “the most interesting social experiment on the planet: millions of people living side by side, drawing from each other a willingness to understand, endure and walk into the future together.”
Now, Biel is relying on Chicago’s commitment to the arts to move her vision forward and to move Rachel further south. She has given twenty years to Chicago, building community, educating, and helping others grow their own businesses. She wants to take her fabric, books, and pets and buy her own house where she can welcome others and make a new start.
Selling her goods here was not an alternative to raise funds, since, while treasured in her heart, the things she has are of personal value only. Her favorite belongings are a 20-year old wooden desk from the ‘40s, a dried 2-ft.-long sucker fish from Brazil’s Parana River from her brother, two old wool quilts made by a church member who passed away, and, of course boxes and boxes of vintage fabrics . . . ready to start a new life themselves . . . as Biel’s next quilt. She also carries some of her own friends with her—four dogs, a cat and ten birds.
So, Biel decided to raise money the best way she knows how—one stitch at a time. Each $ 25 raffle ticket allows the purchaser to a rare chance to obtain their own custom quilt to memorialize their own lives. This intricate, sumptuous creation will truly be a collision of all worlds with snatches and swatches from Rachel’s ethnic treasures as well as vintage pieces that can trace their history through the years of Chicago. For after all, no one knows better than Rachel what a wonderful cloth we can weave in life. It just takes a little patience, a giving plan, and a world’s worth of influences.
For more information, see http://www.daratribalvillage.com/quilt_raffle.htm or Rachel’s resume at http://www.daratribalvillage.com/Pages/resume.htm. Biel also runs the following on-line sales venues: TIAS, Trocadero, iOffer!
Raffle tickets are $ 25 apiece. As of April 1st, 23 have been sold. 240 tickets will pay for the move and a down payment on a house. The deadline is May 1st , which ends in a good-bye party at Bethel Lutheran Church, 2101 N. Humboldt Blvd in Chicago, where the winning raffle ticket will be drawn. There will also be a silent auction and handicrafts sale at the party.
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