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SPOTLIGHT
ON THE ARTS - April 2004 by Deanna Mascle Designed for the Ages
The American museum dedicated to this art form is located in Paducah, Kentucky. The Museum of the American Quilter’s Society (MAQS) is open year ’round and includes more than 100 of the best contemporary quilts as well as exhibitions of antique quilts. MAQS is a non-profit institution established to educate the local, national, and international public about the art, history, and heritage of quilt-making, including the diversity of quilts and their makers.” MAQS founders, Bill and Meredith Schroeder of Paducah, have operated a successful publishing company in Paducah since 1970. In 1983, they became interested in quilting. After attending the National Quilting Association show in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, and the Houston Quilt Festival, they decided they would bring attention to the extraordinary work today’s quilt makers were creating. Out of that idea came a new division of their publishing business (Schroeder Publishing) – the American Quilter’s Society (AQS). The first annual AQS Quilt Show and Contest were held in Paducah in 1985, and the first issue of American Quilter magazine was published that same year. The American Quilter’s Society Show now brings to Paducah more than 30,000 quilt enthusiasts from around the world. AQS has grown and flourished, with an international membership, publishing numerous quilting books, increasing show awards and opportunities for quilters from throughout the world to display their art. In Summer 1990, ground was broken for the construction of such a museum and a separate nonprofit corporation governed by its own board of directors was founded. The Schroeder family supported the design and construction of the $2.2 million facility that houses the museum. MAQS opened to the public on April 25, 1991. “It is the world’s foremost museum devoted to quilts and the only museum dedicated to today’s quilts and quiltmakers,” Wilkes says. When the museum opened in April 1991, its collection contained fewer than 85 quilts on loan from the founders. Since that time these and many others have been donated to the museum, bringing the collection to more than 184. “The Founders Collection, intended to document some of the most extraordinary contemporary quilts and their makers, grew out of Bill and Meredith Schroeder’s personal and corporate collection,” Wilkes says. “Quilts in the Founders Collection were selected because of the beauty and uniqueness of each design and the superb quality of the workmanship. A broad range of styles can be seen – from very abstract to wonderfully realistic. Smaller collections include the Paul D. Pilgrim Collection, a special interest collection, and an education collection.” Wilkes says that through exhibitions and education programs MAQS stimulates and supports the study, appreciation, and development of quiltmaking throughout the world. Programs consist of tours, lectures, demonstrations, as well as intensive workshops taught by well-known quilt artists. MAQS conducts outreach programs to schools, community groups, and quilt guilds, as well as creating unique hands-on projects for children. “The museum focuses in its collecting and other programs on celebrating and further developing today’s quilt-making, but also provides a comprehensive program of exhibits, activities, events, and services, encouraging people to view quilt-making as an ever-developing art and tradition. Whether presenting new or antique quilts, the museum encourages an understanding of and respect for all quilts: new and antique, traditional and innovative, machine-made and hand-made, utility and art,” Wilkes notes. Wilkes is proud that MAQS is able to exhibit, collect, and educate about quilting and its history in a manner that is accessible and enjoyable for everyone. “The Museum of the American Quilter’s Society is an exciting place where the public can learn more about quilts, quilt making, and quilt makers, regardless of the level of knowledge they have when they arrive.” “Through traveling exhibits and other off-site programs and services the museum introduces new audiences to this art and provides further education, bringing the art of quilting to even greater heights internationally.” This vision has been developed in conjunction with the museum’s mission and shared values, and together with them it shapes the museum’s goals. According to Wilkes, the MAQS board hopes to continue to build and grow as well as continue to offer more exhibitions “to acknowledge and present the creations of new and well-known quiltmakers consistently and skillfully.” Wilkes says they also hope “to assemble a splendid collection of quilts that will survive and be enjoyed by thousands of persons throughout the 21st century and beyond.”
Deanna Mascle is a
staff writer for The Lane Report. |
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Quilting is an art form that developed 4,000 years ago and has experienced a huge renaissance over the past 20 years, according to Summer Wilkes, director of public affairs for the Museum of the American Quilter’s Society. “It is now one of the world’s foremost forms of art – practiced and celebrated in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Korea, as well as in the United States.”
The Schroeders also began to purchase and collect quilts, many of which were donated to MAQS and now comprise the Founders Collection. A museum seemed a natural progression of their passion for quilts. Out of a wish to share their passion and their collection grew the concept of a museum dedicated to quilts, quilt makers and quilting. The Schroeder family supported the design and construction of the building and continue to provide resources and guidance to MAQS.
MAQS annually organizes and hosts about six changing exhibitions. The two side galleries feature contemporary and antique quilts selected to follow themes, such as the annual “New Quilts from an Old Favorite” or “The Fabric of Jazz,” a Summer 2004 exhibition that displays jazz inspired quilts by Lauren Camp. The main gallery is devoted to a rotating selection of the museum’s permanent collection of over 200 quilts. “MAQS also develops exhibitions that travel to other galleries and museums, helping educate and inspire a wider spectrum of viewers,” Wilkes says.