99 years after women claimed their right to vote, the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky honors groundbreaking women of the last century with their new exhibit, HERstory Quilts: A Celebration of Strong Women. Susanne Jones, curator of this exhibit, visits Sounds Good to discuss the quilts and the artists who made them.
84 artists from seven countries contributed to the HERstory exhibit, which celebrates women across the globe for groundbreaking works within the last century. Less than one hundred years after women in the U.S. gained the right to vote, these 107 pieces honor women who cracked glass ceilings, broke into fields previously reserved for men, and made discoveries that drastically improved today's society.
Many familiar faces, such as Oprah Winfrey, J.K. Rowling, and former first lady, Rosalynn Carter, are all featured in the new exhibit. While some art quilts are interpretations of famous photographs, others -- called symbolic quilts -- display imagery that is indicative or evocative of the female subject. A quilt honoring Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan, made by Jones, features only the water pump where Helen Keller first learned to comprehend language, not the two women themselves.
Jones also compiled a book on the exhibit, which is available for purchase at the National Quilt Museum. The book offers a closer look into the history of the women featured on each art quilt, the history of the artist herself, and details on how the quilt was created. It also includes photographs of each art piece displayed at the museum.
HERstory: A Celebration of Strong Women opens this Friday, December 7th, in Paducah. The exhibit will be on display until April 10th. The women of this exhibit are internationally known for being unprecedented athletes, authors, artists, aviators, business leaders, educators, entertainers, and scientists. "I would just encourage everybody to go out and read the stories and honor these women who have changed our country and our world for the better," says Jones. "They're not just Americans, they're women of all nationalities. I would encourage everybody to celebrate women this Christmas."
The museum is open Monday-Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm CST. For more information on the exhibit or the National Quilt Museum, visit the museum's website or call 270-442-8856.