Quilts usually conjure up images of gray-haired grandmas knitting in their rocking chairs, but now this perception has a contemporary artistic flair. Through a series showcased at The Dairy Barn gallery, 8000 Dairy Lane, an array of colors, prints, cottons, velvets, sequins, silk, beads and threads are on display as works of art- all with quilts as their canvases.
Quilt National '03 opened on May 24 and will run until Sept. 1. After the show closes in Athens, it will then tour throughout the country for two years.
Various fiber artists from 27 states and 10 countries- including Japan, the Netherlands and New Zealand - displayed their work in the 13th Quilt National series. About 676 artists submitted 1,452 pieces of work, but only about 12 percent are showcased in the exhibit. Fellow contemporary quilt artists Liz Axford and Wendy Huhn were selected as jurors to determine featured quilts along with Robert Shaw, author of The Art Quilt.
Project Director Hilary Fletcher said more than 7,000 visitors are expected from around the world to see Quilt National '03 at The Dairy Barn.
"The majority of people that walk through the door will have traveled at least 100 miles to see the show," Fletcher said.
Quilt artist Jan Dunstan came from Australia to view the exhibit.
"I've been a quilter for 30 years now and I generally buy the books from the previous years' showcases," Dunstan said. "I love contemporary quilts and really admire a lot of these artists' work. It was a real privilege to learn we could include this exhibition in our itinerary."
Fletcher said many people have misconceptions about quilting as an art form.
"Most people think you have to make it one way; that there are supposed to be so many stitches, inches, etc., but the truth is quilts were always an original design," she said. "These artists are creating something that is important and personal to them. In any art form you will find the elements of color, shape, line and texture, and you can find all those elements in these quilts as well."
Fletcher said the first Quilt National was founded in 1979 by Nancy Crow, Francoise Barnes, Virginia Randles and Virginia Beals. It was The Dairy Barn's first major event.
"It began because people were making quilts that didn't go on beds, so quilt shows didn't consider them quilts and yet art shows didn't consider them art," she said.
Fletcher said some quilt artists today are fighting against that same trend of thought.
"I think too often people walk in thinking about what a quilt should be, but I want them to walk out seeing what a quilt could be," Fletcher said.
Fletcher gives credit of the exhibition's aesthetically pleasing layout to volunteer Sarah Williams.
"Think about when you stand here and look-all around the room you see images that complement each other-that's not an accident," she said.
Williams said a former layout designer suggested she separate the gallery into individual sections, or "rooms."
"I laid out all the pictures of the works on my dining room table with a blueprint of The Dairy Barn and started looking for combinations that worked together," she said. "I would start in one "room" and then move onto the next. Altogether I ended up with about 12 rooms."
Gallery hours are from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday at The Dairy Barn. Admission is $5 general and $3.50 for students and seniors. There is no charge for Dairy Barn members and children under 12-years-old.
17 Archives
Laura Bloor
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A quilt hanging in the Dairy Barn is part of the Quilt National display that is held every other year. 1400 entries were submitted for the show and only eighty-four were selected for the exhibition.
