The Virginia Quilt Museum is excited to start off 2021 with a full slate of new exhibits. The exhibits are titled, HERstory, What’s in a Word, Treasures from the Vault, and Celebrating 25 Years.
“The museum faced many challenges during 2020 but we could not be more excited about the exhibits that we have this year and we are so excited to celebrate our 25th anniversary this year,” says Susan Farmer, the Executive Director of the Museum. “ I think that the exhibits that will be opening in February show the real diversity and talents that we try to offer the community.”
HERstory
You studied history. Celebrate HERstory. Throughout history women struggled to have a voice and they got the right to vote in the USA in 1920. This exhibit, by 81 artists from seven countries, includes tributes to women well known to us, as well as those who worked behind the scenes.
The quilts on display celebrate strong women who cracked glass ceilings and those who made discoveries – women who shook the world by breaking into fields previously reserved for men are commemorated, as are those who were the first to do something before any man. Art quilts honor athletes, authors, artists, aviators and astronauts, business leaders, educators, entertainers, mathematicians, scientists, writers, and world leaders. Curated by Susanne Jones, this exciting exhibit takes viewers around the world and through time.
What’s in a Word
Co-curated by Paula Golden and Karin Tauber, the Textile Artist of Virginia (TAVA) presents, “What’s in a Word?”
In recent years TAVA delved into the semantics of words. How words are used, their meanings, clichés, and contexts. With three different series represented in this exhibit, Over the Top, Neologism, and Wordplay and Puns, this exhibit sheds a new light onto how we think about words and art.
Textile Artists of Virginia (TAVA) meet bi-monthly in Southwest Virginia to support each member as a fiber artist, to explore the boundaries of the medium, and to educate and increase public awareness of fiber art. Our work has been exhibited at the Virginia Quilt Museum (2015 & 2021), Montgomery Museum (2014 & 2018), the Taiwan International Quilt Exhibition (2016 & 2020), and other venues.
Treasures from the Vault
This season, Treasures from Vault host quilts from the 1960s. It explores the different themes and materials used during this time. Curated by the Executive Director Susan Farmer, this exhibit features fun filled patterns such as Bonnet Sue. This exhibit will be open from February 16 – July 10, 2021.
Celebrating 25 Years
The Virginia Quilt Museum turned 25 in 2020, but is celebrating in 2021. To celebrate, the museum is exhibiting a quilt brought into the collection every year since opening their doors in 1995. With a mixture of historic and contemporary quilts, this exhibit is a can’t miss exhibit from the Virginia Quilt Museum.
This exhibit will be displayed from February 16 – July 10, 2021.
The Virginia Quilt Museum is the Official Quilt Museum of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Founded in 1995, the museum’s mission is to “cultivate and preserve the quilting arts in Virginia.” The museum’s three floors of rotating exhibits are open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 am – 4 pm. The museum is located at 301 S. Main St. Harrisonburg, VA.
For more information about the Virginia Quilt Museum, please visit http://www.vaquiltmuseum.org or email Paige Hildebrand at [email protected].