When Catherine Connolly, owner and CEO of Merida, reminisces about the journey she and her team of 25 have taken since the former marketing executive came to the textile company 17 years ago, she routinely repeats a phrase from Robert Frost’s seminal poem, “The Road Not Taken”:
. . . way leads on to way . . .
The 47-year-old company was founded in Syracuse, New York, and in the mid-nineties relocated to Fall River, Massachusetts, which Connolly says had been “the cradle of textiles” in the 1850s. When she arrived, however, the skills of Merida’s three generations of local artisans were being underutilized. “It was a volume business,” Connolly explains. “We sold through carpet dealers and stores like Restoration Hardware. We cared deeply about how things were made, where our fibers came from, and being sustainable. But when you care about those sorts of things, it’s hard to compete in the world of manufacturing.”
Early on in Connolly’s tenure, Merida shifted to small-batch production, emphasizing the handmade to create bespoke rugs for designers and architects. Yet, while the work was well received, all Connolly could think about was how to give her employees even more opportunity to grow. “I knew we had to do something so original and so extraordinary that people would be willing to pay for what it actually cost to make. I’m not sure I knew what ‘extraordinary’ even meant, but I knew we weren’t quite there.”
Then way led on to way. A friend introduced Connolly to Sylvie Johnson, a Paris-based artist and weaver known for using color and material composition to manipulate light and shadow. The connection was immediate. “Somehow our intentions meshed,” says Connolly. “We wanted to do something memorable.”
Johnson became Merida’s artist-in-residence in 2017, and each year since, she and the Merida team have created the Atelier series, which features 36 individually designed rugs. In 2024, three of Johnson’s pieces were featured at Design Miami. “In textiles, you need the weave, the fibers, and the technique, too, to create something that is alive,” Johnson says.
What’s most gratifying to Connolly is that Johnson’s intimate involvement has, far from alienating a creative staff, engendered a deeply collaborative environment. “When she came, all the walls came down. Everyone bought into the idea that, even though Sylvie comes to the table with a vision, it won’t be realized without our own designers and craftspeople bringing their all to the table. It’s an iterative process.
“For example, a couple of years ago, we decided to introduce embroidery. And we couldn’t do that until our team practiced the necessary handwork for years. Years. And that’s how it’s all come together. We all routinely challenge ourselves to explore—different looms, multiple layers, multiple patterns—and, in slowing way down to learn and explore, way leads to way.”
David Schimke is senior editor of American Craft.
Connolly and Johnson at Design Miami.
