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Upcoming Quilt Exhibit
Recycling and Resourcefulness: Quilts of the 1930s
American Folk Art Museum
45 West 53rd Street
New York, NY 10019
www.folkartmuseum.org
Quote from the Folk Art Museum :
"Recycling & Resourcefulness: Quilts of the 1930s" will highlight twelve quilts from the International Quilt Study Center & Museum, University of Nebraska - Lincoln, which were made during the Depression era by thrifty women who reused clothing, flour and feed sacks, and other recycled fabrics to create "new" bedcovers in a variety of vibrant patterns. Also on view will be works from the American Folk Art Museum's collection that further explore the theme of recycling, such as the Wonderbread Rug, woven from plastic Wonderbread bags; Baby Blanket, made up entirely of condoms in aluminum wrappers; tramp art made from cigar boxes; bottle-cap figures; and quilts made from men's clothing fabrics and patriotic silk ribbons.
Watch this lecture that compliments the exhibit.
Lecture:
"Recycling and Resourcefulness: Quilts of the 1930s" by Merikay Waldvogel
_presented July 19, 2007
This lecture was very interesting, my first real exposure to the study of quilts, besides the occasional article. Some highlights are one quilt discovered from the 1930’s that was designed by an African American artist and created by women who were the wives of government workers in Alabama. They were there working on flood control and the women spent time together quilting. The design was completely different than the standard quilt blocks, it employs applique of a black man figure, between the white hand of the government and the figure of a woman. This is a wonderfully artistic and powerfully symbolic quilt.
The other interesting aspect of this lecture, and the major portion of it, is the description of the quilt contest that resulted in the Chicago World’s Fair of 1933 quilt exhibit. The contest was sponsored by Sears and produced some amazingly detailed and innovative quilts. Later many of these same quilts were displayed in an exhibit put on by the speaker, Merikay Waldvogel in connection with the book: "Patchwork Souvenirs of the 1933 Chicago World's Fair".