Barbara Olive Hartman’s “Autumn Afternoon,” the winner of the Quilt National 2015 People’s Choice award, will be on display at the Mutton Hill Quilt Show.
What do trees in autumn, “chaos” and a red sun at night have to do with quilting?
They represent the best in contemporary quilting today, and each will be on display in a special exhibit of Quilt National 2015 at the Mutton Hill Quilt Show at the John S. Knight Center, Oct. 16 through 18.
Leianne Neff Heppner, president and CEO of the Summit County Historical Society, the sponsor of the Mutton Hill Quilt Show, emphasized that this exhibit brings a different look at quilting. “These are truly works of art by fiber artists.”
Mutton Hill Quilt show organizer Suze Johns, a quilter herself, agreed. This exhibit allows the Akron community “to see works of art that they probably would never have seen otherwise.”
Quilt National, presented at the “Dairy Barn” in Athens, Ohio, started in 1979, at the “first flowering of the art quilt movement,” explained Judy Campbell, volunteer at the Summit County Historical Society and sponsor of the exhibit in Akron. A juried show, Quilt National now draws submissions from American and international quilt artists. Being accepted for inclusion is a “badge of honor,” explained Campbell.
Susan Shie, a quilter from Wooster whose work has been displayed at Quilt National since 1987, called the show the “most important exhibition in our field.” Her quilt from Quilt National 2015, entitled “Pie of Life,” a tribute of American Civil Rights activist and poet Maya Angelou and her contributions to the world, will be on display at the Akron show.
Besides Shie’s work, the Akron exhibit will feature 29 other Quilt National 2015 quilts including the McCarthy Memorial Award – “Chaos 3” by Kit Vincent of Elizabethtown, Ontario, Canada; the Juror’s Award of Merit – “Chasms 22” by Beth Carney of Yonkers, N.Y.; the People’s Choice Award — “Autumn Afternoon” by Barbara Oliver Hartman of Flower Mound, Texas; and the Lynn Goodwin Borgman Award – “Red Sun at Night” by Barbara W. Watler of Pembroke Pines, Fla.
The Quilt National exhibit is free to all those attending the Mutton Hill Quilt Show. Entrance fee for Saturday and Sunday show is $10. Tickets may be purchased at the door or through the Summit County Historical Society’s website (summithistory.org/tickets). Tickets for the special Friday evening preview are still available. For those tickets, inquire at the Summit County Historical Society by calling (330) 535-1120.
