The Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum opened in 1990 in Golden, Colo., with 100 traditional quilts donated by town resident, collector and museum driving force Eugenia Mitchell. Other historic quilts have been acquired, but the museum wanted something more: To show that quilting was a living art form that continues to evolve, passing on the DNA of the past while adapting to and incorporating contemporary practice and thought.
"Rooted in Tradition: Art Quilts From the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum" at Westmoreland Museum of American Art illustrates that continuance, as well as the generosity and pride of a widespread community of artists.
In 2001, the museum invited 70 important contemporary quilt artists to donate at least one work to the collection. Fifty-eight artists responded with 64 quilts, 48 of which are at the Westmoreland. They're grouped chronologically by the 1980s, 1990s and "new century."
Gee's Bend workshops due here in October
Nia Quilt Guild of Pittsburgh, a project of the Young Men and Women's African Heritage Association Inc., will present workshops on quilting and exhibits of quilts from The Gee's Bend Quilt Collaborative of Boykin, Ala., Oct.7-17, at the New Hazlett Theater, North Side.
The women of Gee's Bend, who are nationally recognized for their artistic quilts, have a special relationship with the Nia Quilt Guild. For the past five years, local quilters from the guild have spent July living, sewing and connecting to the women of Gee's Bend and their families who track their heritage to post-emancipation America.
Matt Arnett, the author of "Gee's Bend: The Women And Their Quilts," will hold educational seminars with local teachers and students majoring in art history, culture and anthropology on Oct. 11, and Chris Moore, local TV and radio personality, will facilitate an informational seminar on Oct. 14 on the quilting tradition. Gee's Bend guest artist workshops also are scheduled throughout Pittsburgh during the 12-day event.
To schedule a workshop for a group, to volunteer as a docent or to get more information, call the heritage association at 412-322-4008. The website is www.ymwaha.org. You may buy tickets at the door or online at https://www.showclix.com/search/Gee's%20Bend%20Quilt%20Collective%20Exhibit
-- By Bette McDevitt
A break-the-mold tone is set by the first -- and earliest -- work, M. Joan Lintault's 1980 "Heavenly Bodies." Its bedtop size and grid format follow tradition, but large cutout areas and Xerox transfers of nudes assert its creator's unique vision.
When more traditional patterns are used, they're shaken up a bit. The square-in-a-square blocks of Lynda MH Faires' 1997 "Tessera (Tiles)" alternate, seemingly randomly, with solid color squares. Her original intent, to make an improvisational quilt, was helped along by a gust of wind that blew the pre-arranged blocks off her design wall. "I interpreted that event as a sign that I was composing too rigidly," she writes in an artist statement, "and started over with a much less structured attitude," resulting in a composition that visually intrigues.
"Rooted in Tradition: Art Quilts From the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum" at Westmoreland Museum of American Art illustrates that continuance, as well as the generosity and pride of a widespread community of artists.
In 2001, the museum invited 70 important contemporary quilt artists to donate at least one work to the collection. Fifty-eight artists responded with 64 quilts, 48 of which are at the Westmoreland. They're grouped chronologically by the 1980s, 1990s and "new century."
Gee's Bend workshops due here in October
Nia Quilt Guild of Pittsburgh, a project of the Young Men and Women's African Heritage Association Inc., will present workshops on quilting and exhibits of quilts from The Gee's Bend Quilt Collaborative of Boykin, Ala., Oct.7-17, at the New Hazlett Theater, North Side.
The women of Gee's Bend, who are nationally recognized for their artistic quilts, have a special relationship with the Nia Quilt Guild. For the past five years, local quilters from the guild have spent July living, sewing and connecting to the women of Gee's Bend and their families who track their heritage to post-emancipation America.
Matt Arnett, the author of "Gee's Bend: The Women And Their Quilts," will hold educational seminars with local teachers and students majoring in art history, culture and anthropology on Oct. 11, and Chris Moore, local TV and radio personality, will facilitate an informational seminar on Oct. 14 on the quilting tradition. Gee's Bend guest artist workshops also are scheduled throughout Pittsburgh during the 12-day event.
To schedule a workshop for a group, to volunteer as a docent or to get more information, call the heritage association at 412-322-4008. The website is www.ymwaha.org. You may buy tickets at the door or online at https://www.showclix.com/search/Gee's%20Bend%20Quilt%20Collective%20Exhibit
-- By Bette McDevitt
A break-the-mold tone is set by the first -- and earliest -- work, M. Joan Lintault's 1980 "Heavenly Bodies." Its bedtop size and grid format follow tradition, but large cutout areas and Xerox transfers of nudes assert its creator's unique vision.
When more traditional patterns are used, they're shaken up a bit. The square-in-a-square blocks of Lynda MH Faires' 1997 "Tessera (Tiles)" alternate, seemingly randomly, with solid color squares. Her original intent, to make an improvisational quilt, was helped along by a gust of wind that blew the pre-arranged blocks off her design wall. "I interpreted that event as a sign that I was composing too rigidly," she writes in an artist statement, "and started over with a much less structured attitude," resulting in a composition that visually intrigues.
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