The I’m Not Crazy SAQA exhibit that I curated premiered this last weekend in New Hampshire at the first of many shows where it will travel. SAQA has also published the quilts on its website along with the artists’ statements. You can see that here. Juror Sue Reno and I wrote something about the show, with her explanation of how she decided on those 20 out of 128 quilts, and my reasons for coming up with the theme itself.
The exhibit will travel to the following shows:
World Quilt Show – New England X, August 16-19, 2012, Manchester, New Hampshire
Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza XIX, September 13-16, 2012, Philadelphia Area, Pennsylvania
Pacific International Quilt Festival XXI, October 11-14, 2012, Santa Clara, California
World Quilt Show – Florida IV, November 8-10, 2012, West Palm Beach, Florida
Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival XIX, February 21-24, 2013, Hampton, Virginia
The Quilt Fest of New Jersey IX, Feb 28-March 3, 2013, Somerset, New Jersey
Denver National Quilt Festival VIII, May 2-5, 2013, Denver, Colorado
Additional venue locations will be determined. I have one or two to check into, now that all the pictures are on the website, but if you have any ideas or contact info, let me know and I’ll look into having the exhibit go there. With the No Place to Call Home exhibit, it traveled to one other quilt show after these, and then a museum in Colorado contacted the curator well after we had received our pieces back and paid for us to ship everything out there for a reprise.
I can tell you from experience that seeing the show online is nothing like seeing fiber art in person. Even as I was putting the installation instructions together, I realized that some pieces that had seemed so small or large to me in the photos were actually the opposite, so I’m hoping to wangle a trip to the closest one to me in October…although many kid things conspire against me. If you do go and take pictures, please pass them on…the artists will be pleased to see their work in situ.
Curating a show is an interesting process…lots of “paperwork” and handling of details, which I could do without, but as I involve myself more with local groups that exhibit, I’m having to do more of that anyway. It was a good experience and the timing worked out with school…at certain times of the year, it might be hard to handle an exhibit on top of everything else, but this worked out well. Many thanks to all those who helped me along: Kathleen McCabe, Lisa Ellis, Martha Sielman, Bill Reker, and Eileen Doughty come to mind, and especially Sue Reno for taking on the juror position.
Kathy Nida 