Missing Piece: MINE!

This is my piece "Wildest Dreams" and if I am lucky I will see it again...

It was supposed to have been exhibited at the "Journey of Hope" travelling exhibit at the Hampton U. Museum. I RSVPd for it and popped through since I was actually in the Hampton Roads area, which is 3 hours from my home. I looked for my "Guest Artist" tag and it wasn't there although I said I was one of the artists when I called. When I found one of the curators and let them know, they didn't try to find at least an empty one for me to write my name on. I felt as if they shrugged and kept on eating their hor d'oeuvres. Then, insult to injury, as I walked around I noticed my piece wasn't there. My name was listed, but no piece. While it was lovely and my fellow artists' works were too and the Museum itself has an awesome collection, I was personally so disappointed and angry-feeling.

I spoke to another coordinator, who asked me to sign my page in the official book/catalogue. When she saw my piece's photo she said "Oh! Yours is one that didn't make it." I was so confused. I thought perhaps because it was a smaller venue that the curators made the exhibit smaller. I...was...really...wrong.

I was so upset that I left almost right away. After firing off an email that evening to my main curator--who has capably handled all of my pieces in different exhibits so far--to let her know what happened, she was like "You ARE supposed to be in the exhibit!" and promised to find out more. Turns out the Hampton curator informed the NAAMCC in Ohio (where it has been for years) that 3 pieces didn't make it two months ago. There was no follow up  and no one informed my curator, who is positively mortified.

To say that this is a clusterf**k is an understatement. Right now, the idea that my granddads' portraits might be misplaced, lost, or stolen is heartbreaking to me. I just want them back. 

SOMEBODY BETTER FIND MY GODDAMN PIECE!!!!!!!!!!

On the Journey of Hope Exhibit...

In a recent email to the artists involved, I was suprised--yet somehow not surprised--to read about the difficulties that Dr. Mazloomi has been having with the Journey of Hope exihibit featuring quilts made in honor of Obama's inauguration: 
"I must say, booking the exhibition has been extremely difficult. Most museums were afraid to take it, or had staff or patrons that didn't like the president. I found it amazing how deep the hatred is of President Obama. Some institutions were threatened with violence and withholding of operational funds if they took the show!"

I don't feel like going into a political discussion or what usually devolves into a "not-discussion" here. It just makes me sad that institutions dedicated to art or history and showing all facets of culture were threatened with violence or a cutting of funds. *sigh*

Textural Rhythms in San Francisco

Textural Rhythms opens tonight at the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) in San Francisco. That is pretty exciting!

Gearing Up for a New Year

 

I totally forgot to post this!! An announcement of the Obama quilt show was shown on a NYC jumbotron-style screen in Times Square in December. So exciting! A selection of the quilts went on exhibit in Yokohama, Japan.

Quilts for Obama Exhibit!

Sew Chick Elle here (and I think it's cute that I've been referred to as such in some newspaper articles related to this)! On Sunday, I got myself prettied up and headed over with my family to the Historical Society of Washington DC's lovely Carnegie Library Museum for the "Quilts for Obama" exhibit! YAY! Guest curated by Roland Freeman with Dr Mazloomi's Women of Color Quilting Network (WCQN), it is a celebration of Obama's journey to the presidency. There is a historic piece from Kansas, as well as quilts and textiles from Ghana, Hawaii, South Africa, Kenya and the oldest member of Michelle Obama's family...This is a lovely piece from Tanzania...This one's from South Africa by Dennis Ngobeni and Somisa Baloyi, depicting him as the chief of his nation...This is by one of my favorite quilters, Carolyn Crump...
I didn't have much time at all when I got the call from Dr Mazloomi in November and literally did some backbusting work to finish, but here's the final version of mine, entitled "Wildest Dreams". It depicts my maternal and paternal grandfathers and great-grandfathers, who I believe could never have imagined seeing this happen in their wildest dreams...And here I am in front of Jim Smoote's piece with curator Roland Freeman whose book A Communion of the Spirits inspired me to become a quilter in the first place. It was so nice seeing folks I knew again and meeting new ones. I am so thrilled to be a part of this and if you are in town, please stop by to see and support it! The pieces are stunning...

Quilts for Obama Exhibit Opened Today

"Quilts for Obama: Celebrating the Inauguration of our 44th President" opened today at the Historical Society of Washington DC and there's my piece for it entitled "Wildest Dreams." The left two gentlemen are the husband and father of my maternal grandmother and the two on the right are my paternal grandmother's husband and father. My grandmom, mom and great-aunt joined my hubby, cousin and me there. The opening was FANTASTIC and the turnout was packed. It'll be there until Jan. 31.

Articles About the Sisters in Cloth RMQM Exhibit...

While Googling about the "Sisters in Cloth" exhibit at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, I came across the following articles! Enjoy!

"Not Your Great-Grandmother's Quilt" by Meredith Knight, MileHigh News

"A Stitch in Time Captures Culture" by Colleen O'Connor, Denver Post

Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum Exhibit Opens Tomorrow

Ooooo with a touch of la la! Got this in the mail! The exhibit opens tomorrow and will run until August 2, 2008. If any of you are in the Denver area, go check it out!

That is Carolyn Crump's lovely "Awakening" pictured here.

Oh Frak!

My sister did win the title of campus Homecoming Queen. I had no idea she could deliver a speech as well as she can sing!

Oh le sigh...I have procrastinated yet again. Well, at least it's only a matter of putting the backing on "Grandma Hopes She's Never As Old As I Am" for the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum exhibit.

I took the catalogs with me from the other two exhibits to one of my favorite shops, Paradise Fabrics, which specializes in African fabrics. I usually buy the bazin/cotton damask for my backings there, so I thought the owner might like to see the final use of them in my pieces. He said, "They are wonderful! You do realize that this is only the beginning for you, you know? How could it not be?" That made me feel good.

He went on to say "People here (he is Ethiopian) are so rushed and that is not good. Life should not have to be like that. You look like a person who does not like a rushed life."

Ain't that the truth?

Textural Rhythms Baltimore..FINALLY

Now that the exhibit is coming to a close tomorrow, I realized I never posted pictures from the Textural Rhythms in Baltimore! It was held in a glass fronted room that overlooked the main street. As we were pulling up, I saw this slide in the window and started screaming and pounding the steering wheel in excitement. The cop next to me looked over at me, not as thrilled...My family showed up for support! Here are my cousin, great-aunt, mom and grandmom. My husband was there as well as my siblings and family friends too...
Here's a group photo of all of the artists present. It was wonderful meeting everyone. Yes, I'm crouching there giggling with Sonji in the front row...
Here I am with the fabulous Jo. It had its own wall panel to itself, which was super-cool...
We all were in a book-signing frenzy afterwards. Here I am signing one now as its owner's li'l dude looks on. I feel like Elle the Rock Star. It took me an hour and a half to get through the exhibit. What great fun it all was!!! Thank you Dr Mazloomi!

Woo-HOO! ANOTHER Exhibit!

Almost a year later, the "Grandma" quilt is done! It was also accepted into the upcoming "Sisters in Cloth" exhibit at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum in Colorado!! I got the letter yesterday and ran back and forth going "YAAAAY!!!!" She said "YAAAAY!!" too when I told her...I finally figured out what to do with the background and went with stylized mimosa tree leaves--like the ones I remember from our family's country home in Virginia. My fave part is her hair. I love what I did with the hair! And ooo King Tut variegated thread ROCKS! The quilting in her dress was inspired by this curvy Chinese jade dragon ornament I saw once. The piece's official name is "Grandma Hopes She is Never As Old As I Am" and here's a closeup shot...

Kids Thought My Art Quilts Were Cool!

My youngest sister T. works at an arts program called CentroNia in the lively, multiculti D.C. neighborhood of Adams-Morgan. It serves as both a learning center (with a charter school), as well as a community hub with programs for adults as well. T. asked me to come in and talk to her students. Actually the conversation went more like this:

T: "Come in and talk to my students about your quilting, jerk!"
L: "Yeah, um, OKAY, fine then, jerk!"

I was pretty nervous because I knew that her class had older kids--about 11-13--and mainly boys. Would they be interested in art quilts? Well...I found out that answer to be a solid YES.

I set up my sewing machine and brought in lots of examples to show them. Works-in-progress and finished pieces, as well as the templates and photos I used for reference. Mid-way through 2 teachers brought their classes of younger students (average age: 8-9) to sit in on it. They were all attentive and really into it! I wasn't afraid to let them touch my pieces. I think the tactile nature of it really helped a lot as they were able to really see it up close and feel the stitches or beads or couching.

They asked great questions too about my techniques, supplies, and creating art itself--even the younger ones. Their excitement was infectious. The younger kids left and my original group of 7 (only one girl!) were given packets I created and they assembled their own fabric postcards. They had a great time wearing my thimbles (God knows I have enough of them!) Even the teachers got involved. As I ran out of time, I collected them, labeled them with their names and thread color choices and will finish them myself this weekend to give to my sister.

I am so glad that I did this! A lot of the kids hugged me afterwards and told me how much fun they had. I had a great time myself! This was a rare weekday off for me, but one that was very well-spent!!!

Baltimore Textural Rhythms Billboard

I was in Baltimore last night for a gala (I know, I was all dressed up and for once, had somewhere to go, LOL) and drove by the Reginald Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History located on the Baltimore Harbor last night.

I started bouncing around in my seat and couldn't stop exclaiming when I saw that outside of the museum they had a HUGE billboard display announcing "Textural Rhythms" with Valerie White's "Ohio River Blues Man" as the main image! It looks fantastic! It will be there starting in November 2007.

If any of you are in the area go take a look! I'm going back up again soon just to take a picture of it!

Textural Rhythms Book Arrived

Opened my mailbox today and a copy of the "Textural Rhythms" catalog was in it!!! I squealed and practically hopped back into the house.

Of course, I went straight for my own "Fab Jo" quilt. It is so fantastic to see it in print as well as so many of the other pieces. If you do not own this book, buy it!!! The pieces in it are wonderful and the descriptions that accompany them are just as interesting. Because it is in alphabetical order, Sonji's pieces are immediately after mine. Looking through the book there are so many of my colleagues that I know either personally or through our communications via email.

Trust me, you WILL love this catalog. It's beautiful...

Textural Rhythms!

You can go to Sonji's blog for fantastic photos from the opening reception for the Textural Rhythms exhibit!

It looks like there was a really good turnout and it is so exciting to see pictures of everyone's pieces! They are gorgeous! There's Sonji's piece hanging next to mine. What were the odds? I hope she won't mind my "borrowing" the above pic! "My Fab Cousin Jo..." looks great and it's so nice to see it up.

Congrats to all of the other artists included, and I can't wait to read the catalog to know more about the inspirations behind them.

Textural Rhythms Opens Today!

I am so excited! The opening of the Textural Rhythms: Constructing the Jazz Tradition exhibit, curated by Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi, is tonight at the King Arts Complex in Columbus, Ohio. I was planning on being there, but my mother's surgery was rescheduled for this past Monday, and I decided that it was best if I stayed here in town. The accompanying book is available for pre-order, and I can assure you that you find some incredible pieces in it, including one of mine (winkwink)!!