Tapestry of the World: Behind the Scenes at the International Quilt Museum
Meg Cox is a journalist, author and passionate quilter who serves on the advisory board of the International Quilt Museum. Previously she was president of the nonprofit Quilt Alliance, whose main projects include oral histories of quilters, many of them preserved at the Library of Congress. Her long journalism career includes 17 years as a staff writer at the Wall Street Journal. Currently, Meg is a staff writer for the quarterly publication Quiltfolk magazine, and her books include The Quilter’s Catalog: A Comprehensive Resource Guide.
Overview
The International Quilt Museum
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has 382 quilts in its collection. The International Quilt Museum–on the campus of the University of Nebraska in Lincoln–boasts 7,500 quilts, the largest publicly held collection of quilts in the world. These quilts were made in 65 countries, between the 17th century and the present.
Learn About The International Quilt Museum
In this class, Meg Cox will explore the origins of this unique, vast collection and what it tells us about the power, purpose and historic meaning of quilts around the world. She’ll focus especially on American quilts, the cornerstone of IQM’s collection, including antique quilts from a ground-breaking 1971 show at the Whitney Museum that elevated the status of quilts into objects of art. She will go behind the scenes of exhibitions that explore how other cultures use quilts and patchwork: to uphold family traditions, for spiritual purposes, and as a personal and political means of expression. You also will get an insider view of the most popular exhibition ever mounted at the IQM: “Uncovered” was the first public display of quilts owned by Ken Burns. The renowned documentarian said he collected quilts because they are “the cleanest, simplest and most authentic expression of who we are as a people.” Learn about The International Quilt Museum today!