CV/Bio
Frances Oldham Murphy was born on May 1, 1950 in southeastern Idaho and lived in Rexburg, Idaho until 1969. Her mother, Mary Smith Oldham, was an attorney who took baby Frances to work with her at her law office. Frances began working for her mother at the age of ten and continued to work in the law office through high school. She studied piano and organ for twelve years and played the clarinet in the junior high school and high school bands.
Having spent her life in a small town, Frances was understandably eager to get away after high school. She moved to Salt Lake City and attended the University of Utah, majoring in Anthropology. While there she also received an associate degree in business. She then returned to Idaho for several years, working as a legal assistant/paralegal.
Shortly after her thirtieth birthday as she was sitting at her computer gazing out the window of her office and wishing she were someplace else, Frances realized that unless she acted quickly, she would likely spend the rest of her life looking at that same computer screen and out of that same window. Shortly thereafter, she quit her job and enrolled at the University of Arizona where she graduated with distinction in 1984, earning a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts with an emphasis on Photography. Frances believes that challenge and motivation are the components of a long life and that belief inspired her to leave friends, family and job and move to Tucson to study art.
Tiring of the constant blue skies and sunshine in Tucson, Frances moved to Seattle in 1985. She worked as a paralegal for two large law firms specializing in commercial real estate lending. Her art training was never far from her heart, though. She purchased her own loom and began weaving in 1990. In 2002 Frances opened her own studio, Pupster Productions (a name inspired by her Airedale Terriers, Teddy and Daisy, who liked to curl up at her feet while she wove).
Frances and her husband, Steve, moved to Surprise, Arizona in 2007. They both immediately became involved with the Sun City Grand Drama and Comedy Club. Frances enjoys acting and has appeared in Inherit the Wind, Hot'l Baltimore, Our Town, Neil Simon's Rumors, And Then There Were None, You Can't Take It With You, Run For Your Wife, Blithe Spirit, Talking With, Mornings At Seven, The Mousetrap. Frances and Steve are founding members of the theater group, Compass Players, in Surprise, Arizona, appeared in the Players' inaugural production of Neil Simon's Chapter Two in April 2016, Sylvia in January 2017, and Agnes of God in December 2017. Frances met fellow fiber artist, Betty Hahn, in 2008 and began art quilting. Fiber and fabric are definitely her mediums and she has never looked back.
Shows and Exhibits:
Mt. Baker Art Show - Seattle, Washington - 2005
Celebrating Art of the West Valley - West Valley Art Museum, Surprise, AZ (May 2009)
Arizona Quilters Guild Quilt Show - March 2010
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Phoenix - Fiber Art Show (April 2010)
Arizona Quilters Guild Quilt Show - March 2011
Art Quilts XVI - Chandler, Arizona - December 2011 - January 2012
Arizona Quilters Guild Show - March 2012 (Winner, Honorable Mention, Art and Innovative Quilt for "Suwatte (Please Sit)")
Northern Colorado Weavers Guild Fiber Celebration 2012 - Longmont Art Museum & Cultural Center, Longmont, CO - March 9, 2012 - April 30, 2012
Pacific West Quilt Show (Finalist) - Tacoma Convention & Trade Center - August 24 - 26, 2012
Art Quilts XVII - Integrating A Paradox - Chandler, Arizona - November 2012 - January 2013
Enchanted Threads - A Walk In The Wild - Albuquerque, New Mexico - November 2012 - December 2012
Arizona Quilters Guild Show - March 2013 (Winner, Second Place, Art and Innovative Quilt for "Left Is Right And Right Is Wrong (With A Nod to Oscar Reutersvard)")
Dering Acting Studio – (Three-artist retrospective show) Art Show Benefit For Children With Cancer - July 26, 2013
Pacific West Quilt Show (Finalist) - Tacoma Convention & Trade Center - August 23 - 25, 2013
Tie One On Art Challenge - Textiles & Textures Artisans Studio - Prescott, Arizona - June 29 - July 28, 2013
Open European Quilt Championships – Veldhoven, The Netherlands – October 17 – 20, 2013 - Voyage Art Textile quilts for 2013
Art Quilts XVIII - Artrageous - Chandler, Arizona, November 2013 - January 2014
A Color Runs Through It - Silver City Fiber Show, Silver City, New Mexico, November 15-16, 2013
West Valley Arts Council - 3rd Annual Floral Art & Botanical Illustrations, Surprise, Arizona, February 21, 2014 through March 21, 2014
Beyond Tradition (SAQA) - Hubbard Museum of the American West, Ruidoso, New Mexico, March 25, 2014 through February 2015
Arizona Quilters Guild Show - March 2014 (Winner, Second Place, Art/Abstract, for "Sunset - Arizona - Summer 2013")
5th Salon International d’Art Textile – Quilt Expo Beaujolais – Villefranche Sur Saone, France – April 2014 - Voyage Art Textile quilts for 2013
Focus: Fiber 2014 - Erie Art Museum, Erie, Pennsylvania - September 26, 2014 - January 18, 2014
Arizona Quilters Guild Show - March 2014 (Winner, Second Place, Art/Abstract, for "Sunset - Arizona - Summer 2013")
West Valley Arts Council - Blank Canvas - West Valley Arts HQ Inaugural Exhibit - July - September, 2014
Art Quilts XIX - Permission to Play - Chandler, Arizona, November 7, 2014 - January 17, 2015
Journeys (SAQA) - Tucson, Arizona - November 11, 2014 - December 10, 2014
West Valley Arts Council - Surprise Invitational – November 2014 - January, 2015
NEC Birmingham - Birmingham, England - March 2015 - Voyage Art Textile quilts for 2013
Arizona Quilters Guild Show - March 2015 (Winner, Honorable Mention, Art/Innovative, for "Summer of Love-1967")
2015 Southwestern Invitational - Yuma Fine Arts Association, Yuma, Arizona - April 10 - May 30, 2015
2015 Minnesota Quilters Guild - Special Exhibits - Voyage Art Textiles quilts for 2014 - Duluth, Minnesota - June 11 - June 13, 2015
SAQA New Mexico - "How Does Your Garden Grow" - Opened at Silver City Fiber Arts Fiesta, Silver City, New Mexico on July 17, 2015, will travel through September 2016
SAQA New Mexico - "Natural Healing" - Opened at First Unitarian Church, Albuquerque, New Mexico on October 11, 2015, will travel through September 2016
Houston International Quilt Festival - Houston, Texas - October 29 - November 1, 2015
American Quilter's Society Quilt Week Phoenix - Phoenix, Arizona - February 11-14, 2016
10th International Prague Patchwork Meeting – April 1-3, 2016, Prague, Czech Republic
Taiwan International Quilt Exhibition – April 30 – May 27, 2016, Tainan City, Taiwan – Special Exhibit: Protect Earth’s Environments
American Swedish Institute Midsummer Celebration – June 25, 2016 – Minneapolis, MN
Art Quilts XXI – November 18, 2016 to January 17, 2017, Chandler, Arizona – Seriously Humorous Art Quilts
Arizona Quilters Guild Show – March 2017 (Winner, Honorable Mention, Art/Innovative, for “Dolls With Balls”, Winner NACQJ Award of Merit for Outstanding Achievement in Quiltmaking for “Dolls With Balls” )
Northern Colorado Weavers Guild – Fiber Celebration 2017 – May 12 – June 17, 2017 – Art Center of Estes Park Gallery, Estes Park, Colorado
SAQA Exposures – June 9, 2017 to August 26, 2017, Vision Gallery and Chandler Center for the Arts, Chandler, Arizona
Fiber As Art – August 10, 2017 to October 6, 2017, West Valley Arts HQ Gallery, Surprise, Arizona (Winner - Third Place for "Summer of Love-1967")
Art Quilts XXII - "As Near To The Edge As I Can Go" - November 17, 2017 - January 5, 2018
Arizona Quilters Guild Show – March 2018, Mesa, AZ
Arizona Artists Guild - Seventh Annual Statewide Juried Exhibition of Fine Art - West Valley Arts HQ, Surprise, AZ - May 10, 2018 - July 5, 2018
What's Happenin' Art Movement Gallery - "Art That Takes You Back " Exhibit - WHAM West Art Gallery, Surprise, AZ - October 4, 2018 to November 15, 2018
Art Quilts XXIII - "Locating Ecologies" - November 18, 2018 - January 11, 2019
West Valley Arts HQ - Roster Artists Exhibition November 29, 2018 - January 11, 2019
Weave Weft Warp - Holland Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ - December 22, 2018 to January 24, 2019
Friendly Fibers - West Valley Art Museum - December 2018
Arizona Quilters Guild Show - March 2019 (Winner - Second Place Art/Abstract for "Emiliania huxleyi")
Arizona Artists Guild - Eighth Annual Statewide Juried Exhibition of Fine Art - West Valley Arts HQ, Surprise, AZ - April 19, 2019 - May 10, 2019 ("Emiliania huxleyi")
Sacred Threads - Floris United Methodist Church, Herndon, VA - July 11 - 28, 2019 ("Owl Katsina")
Painting With Light - Photography Exhibit - West Valley Arts HQ - Surprise, AZ - August 30, 2019 through October 4, 2019 ("Ode to Paul Strand" and "Re-Cycle")
Quilts+Art+Quilts - October 26, 2019 through January 5, 2020- Schweinfurth Art Center, Albany, NY ("Owl Katsina")
Arizona Quilters Guild Show - February 2020
"Feathered Friends" - March - April 2020 - Ground Floor Artists, Surprise, AZ (Winner - Third Place - "Gaia's Blessings")
Taiwan International Quilt Exhibition 2020 - Taiwan (Voyage Art Textile Group - "Primordial Soup")
Art Quilts XXV "Fleeting Moments" - Vision Art Gallery, Chandler, Arizona - November 21 - December 31, 2020 ("Here Today, Gone Tomorrow")
Four Common Corners Thorns & Spikes and Wisdom of Trees - Ground Floor Artists Gallery, Surprise, Arizona - March 3 - 31, 2021 ("Beauty IS The Beast" and "Community")
Four Common Corners Dark Skies/Bright Skies and Fractures and Fissures - Macey Center Gallery, Socorro, New Mexico - March 25, 2021 ("Sky Rain" and "San Francisco Peaks")
Arizona Artists Guild Statewide Exhibition - Mood Room Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona - April 17 - May 15, 2021 ("The Guardians of Notre Dame")
Ground Floor Artists Rock N' Roll - Ground Floor Artists Gallery, Surprise, Arizona - November 13 - 27, 2021 ("Summer of Love - 1967")
Art Quilts XXVI "Stitching Stories" - Chandler Center for the Arts, Chandler, Arizona - November 20, 2021 - January 8, 2022 ("Freedom")
Arizona Quilters Guild Show, Mesa, Arizona - March 2022 ("Primordial Soup" - First Place; "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow" - Third Place)
Fuller Art Lodge - Los Alamos, New Mexico - April 2022
Brannigan Cultural Center - Las Cruces, New Mexico - April 2022
Ground Floor Artists - Surprise, Arizona - May 2022 ("Athanor" - Third Place)
Ground Floor Artists “Art at the Vista" – Vista Center for the Arts, Surprise, Arizona – September 1, 2022 – October 29, 2022 (“Summer of Love – 1967” -Second Place, “Emiliania huxleyi”, “Owl Katsina”)
Ground Floor Artists “Our Tribe" – Ground Floor Artists Gallery, Surprise, Arizona – May 4, - June 25, 2022 (“Athanor” -Third Place)
Dona Ana Arts Council – 4 Common Corners Art Quilt Show – Las Cruces, NM, December 2 – 29, 2022 (“Place” and “Yes”)
Library Commons @ Cochise College - Sierra Vista, Arizona - March 2023
Arizona Quilters Guild Show - Mesa, Arizona - March 2023 ("Chinook" - Second Place)
Macey Center - Socorro, New Mexico - August 2023
Tubac Center for the Arts - Tubac, Arizona - August, September 2023
Memberships and Organizations:
Seattle Weavers Guild
Arizona Quilters Guild
Sun City Grand Cactus Needle Quilters
American Quilters Society
Studio Art Quilts Associates
Arizona Artists Guild (Juried Member)
4 Common Corners (A group of 16 quilt artists from the Four Corners area in the American Southwest)
Voyage Art Textiles (A group of 16 textile artists from around the world who vary in both their experience and in the nature of expression of their art. Their work broadly encompasses the understanding of a quilt in its loosest form.)
Important Awards and Recognitions:
March 2017 - Winner NACQJ Award of Merit for Outstanding Achievement in Quiltmaking for “Dolls With Balls”
Collections:
"Monsoon" - purchased by private collector in Albuquerque, NM 2012
"Echinacea Pupura" - purchased by University of Chicago for its private collection 2017