Friday, April 25, 2008

POAC Opening Reception


My apologies for not posting pictures of the Art Quilt exhibit opening reception sooner. It was a week ago - how time flies when you have company and feel a bit guilty that you cannot identify the maker of every piece of art in these pictures. We start, of course, with a picture of me standing by my quilts with my friend Suzanne (who is not a quilter, but someone who appreciates all forms of art). She and her husband drove 4 hours to hold my hand and help celebrate my first local exhibit. Members of my church (also non-quilters) came out in force as well. It meant so much to see all those familiar faces and know they were there specifically to support me and my art.

This is what people saw as they entered The Old Powerhouse. Art quilts lined both walls of this entryway leading to the open atrium area. (Click on any picture for a larger view.)



No reception is complete without food, of course. The reception was well attended and it was a trick getting to the food and wine, let alone the quilts - part of the reason I didn't take good notes of what was made by who. The second picture shows the short hallway leading to the back of the building and the grouping of the smaller quilts. That's where mine were displayed.



More quilts were displayed along the stairs leading to the next level. I believe the one on the left belongs to Pat Budge.


A different angle of the stairs showing the second level of offices and exhibit space. You can just make out Borg Hendrickson's graphic quilts on the wall below the landing.


That brick wall made for a terrific backdrop for these quilts. My favorite of the exhibit is the one in the center, and now I can't remember who it is by. To the left is one from Pam Mostek's Paintbox series, and the one to the right is by Terri Palmer.


More quilts along the balcony. The most visible one is by Marty Bowne. To the right of it is the most bizarre of the lot. Well, that might show my personal bias, but it definitely was pushing the definition of a quilt. No batting and no stitching, although it was multi-layered and held together in a novel way that just barely fell within the definition. It stuck out 8 or 10 inches, forming "pockets" out of a material that was more mesh than anything.


I had some mixed emotions by the end of the reception, and some thoughts about how it was hung which I'll address in a separate post. All in all, though, the quality of the submissions exceeded my expectations, the quilts look fantastic in the space, and I am very pleased and proud to be a part of this show which runs through June 8th.

2 comments:

Françoise said...

Congratulations!
It looks like a nice show. Hope it gets lots of visitors.

Nora and James McDowell said...

I'm hoping to get down for the show. May is madness for me with trips to Calgary for my son and his girlfriend's graduation from the Alberta College of Art and Design and a private showing of my husbands paintings in Calgary, but somehow we need to fit this in!
Nora