through March
14, 2004. Editor's note: The Muscatine Art Center provided source material to Resource Library Magazine for the following article or essay. If you have questions or comments regarding the source material, please contact the Muscatine Art Center directly through either this phone number or web address:
Expanding Boundaries from the Art Quilt Network
The Muscatine Art
Center is proud to present Expanding Boundaries, scheduled to open
January 25, and run through March
14, 2004.
When quilts were lifted from the bed and assigned to the
wall, a new era in quilt making began. Formal elements of composition and
design became central to its construction when, like a painting, the quilt
could finally be viewed in its entirety. Size and shape were no longer determined
by the quilt's function as a bedcover. Small quilts became increasingly
common. Embellishment that would have been impractical on a bedcover was
now widely used. Mixed media quilts incorporated wood, plastic, and metal
as integral parts of their overall design.(right: Vita Marie Lovett,
Primitive Door Series - XI Appalachian Barn)
In 1986 Nancy Crow founded the Art
Quilt Network. As she traveled throughout the United States teaching
and lecturing, she encountered other quilt makers who were caught up in
the excitement of the budding new art quilt movement. From this small group
of artists, the Art Quilt Network has grown to sixty highly creative members
who meet twice a year in Columbus, Ohio for a three-day retreat. The purpose
of these gatherings is to provide a supportive environment where new artwork,
ideas, and information are shared. In this atmosphere each artist's personal
vision is affirmed thus contributing to a wide range of styles and subject
matter. Originality is prized. No one style is 
dominant.
Thirty-eight selected artists, members of the Art Quilt Network, have had
one recent creation included in Expanding
Boundaries.
Art quilts have evolved in a very short time, from traditional decorative bed covers into wall hangings which deal with the same issues, themes, and design problems encountered by artists in other media. Each quilt in Expanding Boundaries reflects the personal vision of its maker and attests to the high standards and diversity of work, which can grow out of a group that nurtures and supports its members. (left: Ellen Guerrant , Hold on My Heart Throw Me a Lifeline)
Expanding Boundaries was organized
as a sequel to its highly successful predecessor Crossing
Boundaries, which has traveled throughout the United States since
1997. This exhibition includes fresh new work by the same Art Quilt Network
artists featured in Crossing Boundaries as well as the work of the
group's newer members. It reflects the ever-expanding boundaries of the
Art Quilt Movement as it moves between art and craft, technique and content.
The showing in Muscatine is part of a multi-city national tour over a two year period, developed and managed by Smith Kramer Fine Art Services, an exhibition tour development company in Kansas City, Missouri. (right: Rebekka Seigel, Beauty Bomb)
Expanding Boundaries was organized by the Art Quilt Network.
Please Note: RLM does not
endorse sites behind external links. We offer them for your additional research;
external links were chosen on the basis of being the most informative online
source at the time of our search.
Read more articles and essays concerning this source by visiting the sub-index page for the Muscatine Art Center in Resource Library Magazine.
Search for more articles and essays on American art in Resource Library. See America's Distinguished Artists for biographical information on historic artists.
This page was originally published in 2003 in Resource Library Magazine. Please see Resource Library's Overview section for more information.
Copyright 2012 Traditional Fine Arts Organization, Inc., an Arizona nonprofit corporation. All rights reserved.