The Final Stop for Art Quilts of the Midwest—the Texas Quilt Museum
In August I had the opportunity to visit the
in LaGrange. (I was in Texas to speak to the
, but more on that later.)
and visited once, last February, but this time it was personal—Art Quilts of the Midwest is on display there through the end of September.
The exhibition space is beautiful and I loved seeing some quilts hung on an exposed brick wall in the airy gallery. I talked with a lovely employee (whose name I swore I wouldn't forget, but have) and thoroughly enjoyed "saying goodbye" to the pieces in the show—this is the last of the four exhibitions based on
.
When
I never imagined it would lead to exhibitions at four museums (the
International Quilt Study Center and Museum
, the
, and the
) and their curators, that I would be listed as a guest curator at two of them, and that I would get to help hang a show at one. Though I've met only a handful of the 20 artists represented in the book, I've spoken and corresponded with them all over the past five years and learned so much about their creative processes and by continuing to follow their careers.
Having a vocation that lets me "look behind the curtain," to ask questions about what makes creative people tick, expands my life exponentially and for that I am truly grateful.
There is an unexpected coda to this story, though. Little did I imagine during the visit on that hot, hot Texas day that just a week later parts of LaGrange would be underwater. Though the museum was uphill from the river, museum staff and volunteers sandbagged the doors and raised the quilts up high via their pulley system. Power was lost. I was grateful to the curator, Sandra Sider, for taking the time to keep me informed in the midst of all the issues surrounding Hurricane Harvey. In the end, the museum was spared and they are working to reduce humidity in the building. You can read about it in
this letter from museum founders Karey Bresenhan and Nancy Puentes
.
If you're in the area, I encourage you to visit as soon as they reopen. The exhibition (and two others, including some gorgeous, traditional quilts from the International Quilt Study Center and Museum) are on display through October 1.