Last night I went to the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum’s opening reception for “No Girls Allowed” – the 13th biennial exhibition of quilts made by men. It was juried by our friend Bill Gardner, and it was SO much fun to go to a quilt party with so many creative men! We are a corporate sponsor for the event, and we are just tickled to support this opportunity for the guys to show off their talent and their passion for quilting.
Paul has become a quilt designer for our eQuilter Free Pattern program, so to us this is a no-brainer. Just in case you missed it, be sure to check out my interview with quilt artist Danny Amazonas!
This week I spent a couple days in Durango, and attended some meetings regarding the toxic mine spill into the Animas River. I have made a quilt on this topic and I have been more involved in issues of environmental toxins since our daughter was poisoned at her public school.
Now that the problem in Flint Michigan has become front page news, and the methane spewing at Porter Ranch in SoCal has caused evacuations, people are starting to wake up to the fact that these problems are often covered up. So I think I will make a few quilts about this ongoing and escalating issue in our world. Several of our charity recipients work on issues of communities being poisoned, and wilderness/wildlife being polluted. Fortunately the world is starting to wake up to the serious longterm issues caused by these toxins. If you want to learn more, follow Erin Brockovich on Facebook!
Joe Cunningham’s quilt about the Flint water disaster was featured in The Detroit News this last week. I didn’t see him at the event last night, but I was thrilled to see his Activist quilt featured in the news! Go Joe!
Some people call this political art but since this is an election year I am afraid that term could be misinterpreted, so I call it Activist Art. Artists have been using their work to make public statements (or secret messages) for millennia.
Have you made quilts to bring awareness to an issue like this?
My Polar Bear Tour with Natural Habitats is now open for registration, and space for this trip is also *extremely* limited so check out the details and call Aly to register right away to guarantee your spot on the Polar Rover!
We are approaching the deadline for the Cuban Arts Tour registration, so if you want to join us please sign up online now!
Travel Calendar:
Feb 18-19 – QuiltCon in Pasadena CA
March 5 – Lecture at BERNINA Presser Foot – Longmont CO
May 8-15 – Luana’s CUBA ARTS TOUR! – Limited Space Remaining – Sign up NOW!
Nov 15-20 – Luana’s Polar Bear Tour – Registration Open Now!
