Manhattan Quilters Guild; Contemporary Fiber Art in Georgia
Look to the Trees by quilting artist Victoria Findlay Wolfe Photo: Alan Radom
AUTHOR: ARTSYCHOWROAMER
Manhattan Quilters Guild
CONTEMPORARY FIBER ART IN GEORGIA
I have always been a quilt enthusiast, displaying them as art in my interior design projects as far back as I can remember. But the quilts of those days seem dull as dishwater by comparison to what quilters are doing today. While they still maintain their essence in storytelling the patterns and colors have gone much more unusual and modern.
While many still use colorful bits and pieces of fabric, others also utilize mixed media taking the works to a fine art category in presentation. Some have taken the bright star patterns of old and turned them into calm single color studies of serenity and zen.
There is a wonderful exhibition coming up at a museum in my own backyard that I am pretty excited about. This post will highlight some modern techniques in quilting, the artists producing them and where you can go to see the beautiful results if you are a quilt lover like me. Let’s get started!
SQTM celebrates the art of making quilts
SOUTHEASTERN QUILT & TEXTILE MUSEUM
I am proud to say that the Southeastern Quilt & Textile Museum is located in my own backyard in the state of Georgia in a little town called Carrollton which is about 45 miles Northwest of Atlanta close to the Alabama state line. It is a rural farming community known for being friendly and the home of the University of West Georgia with a population around 28,000.
Robert F. Kennedy visited the school in 1964 for the dedication of the Kennedy Chapel on campus. A little book called, Gone with the Wind, mentions the town as did the movie by the same name. It boasts local celebrity and movie star, Susan Hayward, as having lived there.
Several movies of note have used it as a filming location and while there was that little dust up of censorship back in 2011 with the Rocky Horror Picture Show (we don’t like to talk about that 😂) they do have a nice roster of artistic events in their downtown area every year for residents and visitors to enjoy and participate in.
The beauty of Kaleidoscope XLI by Paula Nadelstern Photo: Manhattan Quilters Guild
THE MISSION
So it’s no surprise that the Georgia Quilt Project and the Georgia Quilt Council threw in together to establish SQTM. They officially selected Carrollton as the location for the project and launched the museum in 2009 finally opening it’s doors in 2012.
They are located at 306 Bradley Street in the historic section of town in a renovated cotton warehouse which makes it just about perfect for the triangle mission of teaching, preserving and celebrating current quilting trends.
SQTM is a non-profit and “collects, exhibits, promotes and interprets the heritage, art and production of quilting and textiles in the Southeastern United States.” Having the museum brings local, regional and international visitors to the city every year.
MANHATTAN QUILTERS GUILD
Enter the Manhattan Quilters Guild. Founded in 1980, a diverse group of New York area quiltmakers began to meet on a monthly basis. They wanted to promote the art and professionalism in quilt making while they gathered to “offer encouragement, study different methods, offer critiques, share skills and discuss pertinent topics.”
As a group they want to foster more public awareness of quilting and they do this through exhibitions of their works, lectures, teaching, writing articles and books and participating in community service projects just for starters. They work with galleries and also accept commissions for their quilts which obviously are considered to be works of art.
While the guild started around a dining room table with members interested in the rich traditions and future of the medium it is no mistake they came up with a name for their group that joins both the hominess of needlework with a large city of sophistication.
Flying Over Winter Fields by quilting artist Arle Sklar-Weinstein Photo: Manhattan Quilters Guild
40 X 40 @ 40 EXHIBITION
In the midst of a three-year national traveling tour, Manhattan Quilters Guild offers nineteen designs from their members which will be on exhibit at SQTM through March 26th. Each measuring 40 x 40 and the exhibition also celebrates the 40th anniversary of the guild.
No two quilt’s designs are alike in any way except in size. They all tell a story the artist would like you to know; whether it’s a fun play on Michelangelo and the beginning of life or the beauty seen in the complicated patterns of a kaleidoscope.
Life Begins at Forty is a fun play on Michelangelo Photo: Jean Vong
FIBER PLAY
Flying Over Winter Fields is from the Emergent series where artist Arle Sklar-Weinstein tells the story of thrilling aerial views of the earth and what that looks like when climate change begins to effect it. Her mixed media work with cords, fabric and yarns beautifully mimic snow and flooding in a visually thoughtful and contemporary way.
Victoria Findlay Wolfe uses Look to the Trees to celebrate her journey as an artist; one that makes things much like light coming through the trees-visual clarity of where she has been and where she will go. Her shapes give you the suggestion of branches and leaves while the colors selected suggest nature in bloom.
Don’t think all of these fiber stars are playing with color. Artist Daphne Taylor created a lovely study in beige silk meant to imply drawings which is another artistic skill she possesses and loves.
Rachel Dorr worked with dense patterns and different shapes with texture to show you can create a lovely piece without the use of bright colors. Both are wonderful examples of simple quiet beauty.
TELLING THEIR STORIES
Emiko Toda Loeb decided to create a piece utilizing cotton, silk and satin with shapes that pay homage to the ancient art of Japanese basket weaving from bamboo. Her overlapping square shapes in soft colors contrast beautifully with the dark textured background.
Tying up Loose Ends is about artist Ruth Marchese’s hope to one day see North and South Korea reunited-separated since the end of the Korean War in 1953. The colors are a specific reference to traditional Bojagi styling and costumes used in both countries.
Artist Kim Svoboda builds an architectural dream in her quilt that suggests the lovely moments of travel where you explore and discover hidden vistas behind every corner and BTW, you are on your own too while doing it. As a travel junky and a designer I felt particularly connected to this one and imagined the scenic bridges, arches and buildings of Europe while studying it.
Left Photo: Jean Vong MIddle Photo: Randy Duchaine Right Photo: Manhattan Quilters Guild
One of the designs that felt the most traditional to my eye is Daisy Eyes from artist Katherine Knauer. It uses flower and vine imagery in a riot of colors that burst forth to suggest a daisy garden with multiple varieties cleverly surrounded by latticework. It is so much fun!
The brilliant colors and fun imagery of Daisy Eyes Photo: Jean Vong
CELEBRATING RENEWAL
One of the pieces I looked at the longest that had the most emotional pull for me was Renewal XII. Artist Randy Frost is a breast cancer survivor. One of the consequences she says she suffered afterwards was creative block.
You wouldn’t know that to look at this piece. As I studied it, I liked the fact that the quilt is not square and feels deconstructed-uneven; which I think is a statement about how cancer leaves you feeling. I loved the use of threads which reminds us that chemotherapy is no joke when it comes to your hair.
Renewal XII is a series based on surviving cancer Photo: Peter C. North
Various different shapes suggest DNA strands while surrounding plays on circles suggest cells and perhaps tumors nestled in and around. As an art collector I would love to see the entire series on exhibit to be able to look at this journey and where she takes it creatively to tell you her story of survival and renewal.
PRESTIGIOUS COLLECTION
The director of operations at SQTM feels that this prestigious collection of quilts will be a real draw for the town in the coming weeks that are left to the exhibition. The show also features a collection of mixed-media fabric masks. Even though you might be sick of the pandemic it is truly inspirational to see what creative artists can do with a small accessory that has become a norm for our every day life.
The portrait quilts of artist Bisa Butler
CONCLUSION
I find this exhibition so compelling. I like the idea of it. It celebrates women and the traditional idea of hearth and home. It does it with stories, beauty, color and texture which is what life is all about. It tells their personal stories as quilts always have and will continue to do.
It shows the beauty in the technique that continues to change from generation to generation. It is a practice as much as a hobby and/or job for many. It continues to evolve as the human spirit does. While no one would mind having one of these on their bed, I feel the best way to present them is like the artwork they are-on the wall in all their glory. Get to the museum to see this exhibition for yourself.
I did a post on the portrait quilts of artist Bisa Butler. I love what she is doing and the stories of others she is telling. If you aren’t familiar with her work, enjoy the video above to discover all. I think you will be a fan just like me.
If you enjoyed what you read, you might also like other posts under Artful Ideal. Hey, don’t be a stranger! Let me know what you think about the exhibition and quilting in general. I love it when you share your stories with me. Look for my next post which can be about almost anything artsy here. Until then…
Cheers!
ArtsyChowRoamer
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