Quilt Art Is a Special Form of Art
Quilt art is the other name for art quilting, with special artistic forms that makes use of conventional techniques of quilting to produce several objects of art. Those who are involved with quilt art create forms based on their imagery, experiences and ideas, rather than emphasizing on traditional patterns. The art of quilting is more close to fine arts and does not hold much resemblance with traditional quilting. Artistic quilts are usually used as wall hangings and this helps much in enhancing the inert beauty of your domicile.
US and British contributors in the field of art quilting
Pauline Burbidge is one of the artists who took inspiration from old quilts in Portobello Road in London. Charles and Rubynelle Counts are the ones who after completing their education at Berea College started a crafts center of their own. They became famous for producing quilts during the mid 1970s. However, the designs are not so contemporary but they do have their distinctive style.
Beth Gutcheon and Michael James worked as quilt art instructors and the kind of art they have introduced still helps several art quilters earn their living. Based on the art, Gutcheon published his book The Perfect Patchwork Primer in 1973. However, in 1978 a more technical version The Quiltmaker’s Handbook was introduced, which is a sort of guide for design and construction of the quilt. These were the beginnings and after this some more were published, which still serve as guides in the field of quilt art.
Molly Upton and Susan Hoffman, the two most remarkable quilt artists organized an exhibition together with Radka Donnell in the year 1975. The exhibition took place at Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard University. Again in 1975, Hoffman organized an exhibition of art quilting at the Kornblee Gallery on 57th Street in New York City.
These were the few eminent ones in the field of quilt art apart from whom there were others too like Terrie Hancock Mangat, Gayle Fraas and Duncan Slade, Jan Myers-Newberry, Pamela Studstill, Joan Schultz, Yvonne Porcella, Ruth McDowell, Rise Nagin. (McMorris, Shaw), Nancy Crow, Joan Lintault, a professor of art at Southern Illinois University, Radka Donnell and Jean Ray Laury.
A list of important exhibitions of quilt art
- "Bed and Board" Exhibition of 1970 at DeCordova Museum (a museum of twentieth-century American art).
- In the Whitney Exhibition of 1971, quilt art was introduced as a legitimate art form where abstract designs were noted in American quilts.
- "Quilts ’76" Exhibition at the Boston Center for the Arts in 1975.
- "Quilted Tapestries Exhibition at Kornblee Gallery, New York City in 1975.
- "The New American Quilt" at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts in New York City in 1976.
- "The Art Quilt was sponsored by the Art Museum Association of America on 1st October 1986.
Exclusive glimpses of unique quilt art forms
- The Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, Golden, Colorado,
- Ball State University Gallery of Art, Muncie, Indiana,
- American Craft Museum, New York,
- Muse ArtColle, Sergines, France,
- International Quilt Study Center and Museum, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska,
- The Mint Museum of Craft & Design, Charlotte, North Carolina
In USA however, there exists a professional organization for quilt artists. Moreover, there is the other one the Studio Art Quilt Associates. Both these organizations of quilt art were established in the year 1989.
It is a fact that quilt art shares a similarity with traditional techniques of quilting, however contemporary quilt artists are working hard to introduce different methods to produce their artwork. Nowadays, art quilting is done by the means of painting, dyeing, stamping, piecing, collage, printing, appliqué and other innovative techniques. Such a variety in quilting has helped quilt art acquire a higher status and more admiration among people.
