Quilt National will open its 17th biennial exhibition of quilt works, which will hang as “wall art,” in the exhibit Quilt National ‘11 beginning Saturday at noon, at The Dairy Barn Arts Center, 8000 Dairy Lane.
Nearly 88 quilts were selected from around the nation as well as internationally — countries such as Japan contributed to the show. The exhibit is “world-renowned,” said director Kathleen Dawson and is one of four major quilt exhibits in the state of Ohio.
“Of course, ours is the largest and most important,” Dawson said. “But we’re just a little bit biased.”
Ohio is a hub for quilt artists, said Dawson, as she described an encounter with the author of one of her favorite quilting books. The author told the history of Ohio’s dominance in quilting during the 1960s, prompting Dawson to question whether quilting gained steam outside state boundaries also.
“She said, ‘No, actually Ohio is the center of it,’” Dawson said.
In 1979, the state granted The Dairy Barn an art gallery under the condition that the barn held one major exhibition within its first year. So, Quilt National was patched together. Three nationally prominent quilters who resided in the Athens area agreed to organize the show. They were Nancy Crow, Francois Barnes and Virginia Randalls.
Prior to this show, no art exhibit had ever “moved the art/craft of quilt making from the bed to the wall,” according to a press release.
“These ladies were making quilts that were nontraditional quilts …” Dawson said “… We have just continued that tradition for 32 years now.”
Dawson added that these quilts look more like modern art hanging on walls than actual patchwork pieces or bedspreads.
“They do more things with fabric then you might be able to ever imagine is possible,” Dawson said.
A jury previewed around 1,085 quilt submissions and selected the pieces for the show. The jurors included quilters Nelda Warkentin and Eleanor McCain, as well as fiber artist Pauline Verbeek-Cowart, who teaches at the Kansas City School of Design.
The exhibit expects between 6,000-8,000 visitors from all 50 states and 20-25 foreign countries, Dawson said. Often, she said, these visitors are quilters themselves who have traveled far to see a collection of some of the world’s finest.
“A lot of people who live in Athens don’t know about it,” she said. “But people who live in Japan do.”
Prizes will be awarded to 14 quilts and announced at 5 p.m. tomorrow at the reception, which is open only to contributing artists and gallery members. The gallery will run until Sept. 5. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 12-5 p.m.
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