Exhibition - Quilt Mania II December 14, 2008

Titled "Piece by Piece This exhibition will present a legacy of quilts. The curator will be Mary Ruth Smith, Ph.D. from the Arts Department at Baylor University.A Since the 1970s, the contemporary art quilt has evolved to form a diverse body of creative accomplishments. Before this time, the word quilt referred almost always to a particular kind of bed covering: a sandwich of two fabrics with batting held together with thousands of tiny handmade stitches. Surprisingly, late twentieth century formally trained artists began to find something exciting about the patches of colored and patterned fabrics that composed traditional quilts made by women of the past who had little artistic training, but whose quilts had become recognized by many fine arts museums. They saw quilting materials and techniques as alternatives to their art media. At the same time, quilt artists envisioned using art techniques and unusual materials in their quilted creations. As a result of this new focus by different artistic persuasions, quilts became an art form. They were removed from the bed and became important for their aesthetic value rather than their function. September 27 - December 13