As an exhibit-only quilt museum, we rotate our exhibits four times a year. Here are some of our past exhibits starting in 2021.
Here Comes the Sun
November 16, 2021 – January 23, 2022
Each winter, the days grow shorter, darkness envelopes more hours of the day, and the color drains away from our natural landscape. Just as the ancients celebrated the winter solstice with rituals designed to encourage the sun’s return, this exhibit honored the sun with a study of the color orange in both historic and contemporary quilts.
Guest Curator Joe Cunningham’s curator statement:
Over the past 250 years of quilt history in the United States, the color orange has risen and fallen in popularity several times. Even at its peak, orange has never been a predominant color. Today, while it is easy to find orange used in quilts, many people consider it either unpleasant or off-putting. Not me! The first antique quilt I ever purchased was the Bow Tie included in this exhibit, so unloved in the dealer’s booth that the price was low enough even a young guitar player/quilter could afford it. Citrus, the rising sun, pumpkins, cheddar cheese—some of my favorite things in life are orange. According to sources I find on the internet, orange can represent almost anything, from serenity and peace to fire and war. For me, orange means happiness and joy. The quilts here represent but a small number of the innumerable ways quilters have stitched orange into their quilts.
Artists in the exhibit included: