Friday, October 14, 2011

Good News

Walking Along a Sandy Beach
Commercial cottons, free-motion quilting, water-
soluble crayons, water-soluble pencils,
textile medium, acrylic paint
9.5" x 9.5"
Back in January....gosh that seems like forever ago...I made this quilt and shared it in this blog post. It was made for This is a Quilt!, SAQA's 2011-2012 Traveling Trunk Show.

Yesterday I received some wonderful news. This news was quite a surprise to me as I had totally forgotten about this aspect of this particular quilt exhibit, or maybe I didn't even really know about it. Out of all 268 quilts that were submitted for this Traveling Trunk Show, 50 were selected to be included in a permanent collection at the Michigan State University Museum. AND MY QUILT WAS ONE OF THE 50! WOO HOO! Here are the details that I received in an email message from SAQA.



As part of the planning for This is a Quilt! SAQA arranged for 50 pieces to become part of the permanent collection at the Michigan State University Museum. We engaged gallerist Michael Solomon to select those pieces. The pieces will go to the Michigan State University Museum at the close of the trunk show travels.

Michael Solomon wrote:
When Kris Sazaki first asked me to be the juror for a collection to go to the Michigan State University Museum, I willingly accepted, thinking it would be a piece of cake. After all, I had owned a fine art gallery in Sacramento for over 10 years, and I had certainly chosen art and artists for many gallery exhibits. I faced a slightly greater challenge with group shows as opposed to solo exhibits, but I felt I had a pretty good grasp of the contemporary painting and sculpture we exhibited. I have also juried shows outside of my gallery, as well as my own photography exhibits.


For the SAQA show, I came to realize that my mandate would limit and challenge me when I faced the prospect of selecting just 50 pieces out of 268 submissions. I have spent many hours in art museums around the world, I am an avid collector, and I have formulated some ideas as to what constitutes "great art." While the quality of art may be subjective, great art is simply that which compels one to look at it, again and again and again. This is the truth, if not a truism. And that's the reason museums full of art that visitors repeatedly visit, contain great art. I can't stop looking at and admiring the art on my walls and pedestals; if I do, I end up replacing it with something better, and then repeat the process.

In jurying this show, I looked for aesthetic design, shapes, color, composition, texture, and subject matter. I am somewhat partial to figurative subject matter, so that may have affected my judgment in some respects. All of the work I viewed exhibited high artistic quality, and I found myself initially choosing way more than my allotment of 50. I then faced the agonizing task of deselecting many pieces I appreciated. In any event, I hope you enjoy my selections.

Artists whose trunk show pieces were chosen to become part of the Michigan State University Museum's permanent collection:
1. Affolter, Regula
2. Branjord, Sandra
3. Bruvry, Patricia
4. Carrigan, Sherry
5. Chen, Yeu-Chiu
6. Chuang, Huei-Lan
7. Clover, Jette
8. David-Cohen, Yael
9. Drucker, Tamar
10. Ecob, Aileyn
11. Filatoff, Julie
12. Fingal, Jamie
13. Fitzsimmons, Micaela
14. Fricke, Rebecca
15. Henry, Susan Elaine
16. Horne, Connie
17. Huang, Ming-Mei
18. Jensen, Jill
19. Jurgenson, Jean Renli
20. Lachman, Mary F.
21. Law, Catharina Breedyk
22. Limmer, Andrea
23. Lin, Hsin-Chen
24. Lin, Mei-Mu
25. McClean, Sarah Louise
26. McLaughlin, Linda
27. Milholen, Vivian
28. Miller, Linda
29. Ortelle, Cathy
30. Owoc, Pat
31. Pal, Mary
32. Phillips, Margaret A.
33. Pixeladies
34. Puetz, Casey
35. Read, Priscilla
36. Robertson, Ruan
37. Robertus, Linda
38. Rushbrooke, Rose
39. Simpson, Gayle
40. Smith, Catherine Whall
41. Smith, Lura Schwarz
42. Stegmiller, Terri
43. Stoltz, Heather G.
44. Tateo, Tiziana
45. Themel, Kate
46. Thomas, Rosalind
47. Tunnell, Karen Reese
48. Wambaugh, Debbie
49. Wanner , Dwayne
50. Watler, Barbara

I am very excited that my quilt was chosen for this permanent collection and very honored to be among all the wonderful artists listed here. Have a fabulous Friday!