DALLAS—In a collaboration of unprecedented scope, eleven Dallas-area cultural institutions are coming together for “Quilt Mania,” a cooperative exhibition of a wide variety of quilts and quilt-related events starting this fall and continuing through the spring. Each museum will feature user-friendly visual aides and educational programming specially designed to enable visitors to easily compare and contrast the works across the breadth of the exhibition. Participating institutions include The African American Museum, Dallas Museum of Art, Historic Mesquite, Inc., Irving Arts Center, The McKinney Avenue Contemporary, Old City Park: The Historical Village of Dallas, The Science Place, The Sixth Floor! Museum at Dealey Plaza, South Dallas Cultural Center, Thanks-Giving Square and The Trammell and Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art. The event’s sponsors include The Pauline Allen Gill Foundation, Anonymous, The International Quilt Festival, The Art Institute of Dallas, The Quilter’s Guild of Dallas, Inc., The Summerlee Foundation, The Rosewood Foundation, Moda Fabrics, Carriage House Quilt Shoppe, Common Threads Quilting, Quilt Country, Quiltmakers, Bernina Sewing Centers of Plano & Dallas, The Quilt Asylum and The Texas Association of Quilt Guilds. Coordinating this effort is Marian Ann J. Montgomery, Ph.D., quilt historian and project coordinating curator.
No other known exhibit in this country has sought to compare and contrast quilts between institutions to give visitors a broader education, as is intended with this project.. The goal of such a collaboration is twofold: to educate the public about the art and history of quilts, not only in America but around the world; and to delve farther and deeper into the medium of quilts, as a reflection/extension of the human experience as well as an art form, than any one institution would be able to do on its own.
More detailed information about each of the exhibitions listed here can be found on the “Quilt Mania” web site, www.quiltmania.org, on each museum’s respective web site, or by calling (214) 979-6476.
African American Museum
“Common Threads: African American Quilts Past and Present”
Sept. 11, 2003-Apr. 28, 2004
214-565-9026, www.aamdallas.org
Dallas Museum of Art
"Through The Needle’s Eye: American Quilts From the Permanent Collection of the Dallas Museum of Art"
Jan. 11-Jun. 27, 2004
214-922-1200, www.dallasmuseumofart.com
Historic Mesquite, Inc.
Florence Ranch Homestead, 1424 Barnes Bridge Road
“Works of The Lawrence and Walker Women of Early Mesquite”
Preview Oct. 10-11, 2003; Opens Nov. 1-22, 2003; Dec. 2-13, 2003; Mar. 2-30, 2004
972-216-6468, www.cityofmesquite.com, Historic Mesquite, Inc. page
Irving Arts Center
“Selections from the International Quilt Festival Collection”;
Oct. 4 - Nov. 16, 2003
“Five Voices: Connecting Through Quilts”;
Oct. 4, 2003 – Mar. 28, 2004
“Quilts by Members of the Irving Quilt Guild”
Jan. 10 – Feb. 1, 2004
“Exquisite Stitches: African American Quilt and Fiber Art”
Feb. 1–29, 2004
972-252-7558, www.irvingartscenter.com
The McKinney Avenue Contemporary (The MAC)
“Chapel Chromatica, an Installation by Ellen Frances Tuchman”
Jan. 3 – Feb. 1, 2004
214-953-1212, www.the-mac.org