QN ’11 – Opening festivities

Quilt National 2011 opened this past Friday. I am very proud to be a part of this most excellent show, and I was glad I had the opportunity to attend the opening reception and associated activities at the Dairy Barn Arts Center.

Along with 2 of the 3 jurors, an unprecedented 66 of 88 artists traveled to Athens, Ohio, for the opening. It was great to be able to meet so many artists whose work I’ve long admired, and to see others again whom I’d met before. There’s something really invigorating about being in the midst of so many creative minds all at once. I tried to get photos of as many of these artists with their work as I could. (A few of them escaped my efforts.)

If you haven’t already, you should get a copy of this year’s book, available directly from the Dairy Barn. (I know you can get it for less on Amazon, but it’s important to support the organizations who are so instrumental in providing exhibition venues for art quilts.)

Congratulations to all the exhibitors who participated in this exhibition, and especially to the award winners. I would like to extend my grateful thanks and appreciation to Quilt National Director Kathleen Dawson and to all the staff and volunteers at the Dairy Barn Arts Center, for all their incredibly hard work in making this exhibition a fantastic success and for planning the wonderful events for the artists. Thanks also to everyone who enters the show year after year, myself among them, making the exhibition a possibility!

May 30th, 2011|Exhibitions|28 Comments

28 Comments

Gerrie May 30, 2011 at 7:04 pm

These are wonderful photos! Thanks for sharing.
Martha Wolfe May 30, 2011 at 7:26 pm

Thanks for sharing your wonderful photos! I enjoyed putting names with faces, as well as artists with their creations. A truly beautiful collection!
Betsy Cannon May 30, 2011 at 9:32 pm

Thanks so much, Deidre! Wonderful photos! It must have been great. Many congratulations.
Pat Pauly May 31, 2011 at 5:44 am

Deidre,

You are lovely! I can say that because I met you at QN, and the photos you have shared with us speak to the lovely way you have captured the artist and their work. They are gentle and capable.

Many thank for sharing,

Pat Pauly
Wen Redmond May 31, 2011 at 7:28 am

What great shots! I really like the ones showing the exhibit room. I think the QN catalog should have a few. It gives one perspective on the scale of the exhibit and sizes of the pieces.
The photo’s of the artist and their works is Annie Leibovitz-like, capturing hints of the personality of the artist.
Thank you for this excellent capture of QN!
Pokey Bolton May 31, 2011 at 7:39 am

What a fantastic post, Deidre. I was so sorry I couldn’t attend this year. I’m going to tweet about your post so more people can see these amazing quilts. Ordering the book today!
judy coates perez May 31, 2011 at 7:51 am

Thanks for the wonderful photos and glimpse into QN opening night. So great to see the quilts with their makers, thanks for having the per severity to get each photo, I know how hard that can sometimes be at these kind of events 🙂
Jeanne Marklin May 31, 2011 at 8:01 am

Deidre,
Wish I was there, but you’ve represented the show and artists very well. Looks like a particularly wonderful show with so many styles represented. Congratulations on being in the show too! Thanks for posting and documenting the opening for all of us.
Carol Watkins May 31, 2011 at 8:21 am

Deidre,your photos are delicious. I have several but not as good as yours at all. Thank you for sharing them. Also, it was fun traveling together and sharing this premier event with you. I appreciate your being our designated driver too.
Sue Cavanaugh May 31, 2011 at 9:18 am

Deidre, Great to see you at the opening. Your piece is fabulous! Congratulations! And thanks for your great photos – a much better job than I managed to do.
Judy Book May 31, 2011 at 9:25 am

This show was fantastic! Thanks for sharing the photos for us to enjoy.
Karoda May 31, 2011 at 9:37 am

I tried to hang around all day Saturday in order to get as many autographs in my book as possible. You are one of the artists I regret not seeing as I love your work and it was such a treat to see it up close. The girlfriend that accompanied me (an artist, but not textiles) immensely loved your piece.
Benedicte Caneill May 31, 2011 at 9:48 am

Fantastic account of a great week-end! So glad we got to spend time together. Congratulations on your beautiful piece in the show!
Paula Kovarik May 31, 2011 at 4:07 pm

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. And now I can go back again and again to remember people’s names, their work and their smiles. Thank you Deidre. A brilliant job.
judy martin May 31, 2011 at 4:33 pm

My Gosh Diedre!

These are so beautiful. Someone said that you were able to catch the personality of each maker and I agree. Very well done.

I didn’t think it would mean so much to me to see the women who made these quilts again, but it does. Thank you very much for this post.
Betty Busby May 31, 2011 at 9:30 pm

wow, Diedre-
you did a great job with this!!
mind if I link to you on my website, since I did so little documenting.
thanks so much!!

Betty
Barbara Gilhooly May 31, 2011 at 9:33 pm

Congratulations Deidre! Great photos!
Barbara
Sharon May 31, 2011 at 10:09 pm

Thank you so much for this. Wonderful photographs. I loved seeing the artists and really appreciated seeing them with their works to get a sense of the scale of the pieces.
Thanks you thank you!
Betty Daggett May 31, 2011 at 10:33 pm

Great photos of a special event. Congratuations on your submission. Listened to you at the SAQA Conference. It is great to see the faces of several people I met in Denver. Thanks for sharing the event. Amazing artists!
Karen Turner June 1, 2011 at 2:17 am

Thank you for the wonderful photographs. I wish I could have been there!
joni beach June 1, 2011 at 8:29 am

Deidre, thanks for shooting & sharing these photos of the exhibit…I’ve visited the Dairy Barn in the past and would love to view Quilt National in person! My Best, joni
Caroline Szeremet June 1, 2011 at 9:31 pm

Thanks for taking the photos and then sharing them with us. I was there and it was a fantastic evening. So much talent in one place.

Caroline Szeremet
Hebron, KY
Laura Jaszkowski June 1, 2011 at 10:23 pm

Thank you for taking the time to capture each artist’s photo in front of her piece. What a treat to see the personality that goes with each piece. It’s (almost) as good as being there to see it in person.
Jane LaFazio June 3, 2011 at 2:26 pm

great photos Deidre!! thanks so much for your wonderful reporting!
Morna Crites-Moore June 4, 2011 at 12:06 am

Thanks for this article … and also for the reminder that price is not the most important factor when deciding where to buy the book.
Lorie McCown June 4, 2011 at 7:07 pm

Thanks so much for posting this. What a great group of talented artists. Wonderful to put the face with the work! Beautiful.
Isabelle Wiessler June 5, 2011 at 2:59 am

Thank you so much Deidre for sharing those pictures with us. This is, as so many of us already said, something very special, to see the artists with there Quilts. I really apreciate it. It looks like a fantastic and high quality show. Congratulations for your piece!
Leslie Tucker Jenison June 8, 2011 at 3:09 pm

What a lovely post about the QN opening event. Thanks for sharing the link, Pokey! I will happily order the exhibition catalog from Dairy Barn.