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A Country Patchwork
June 2001
There has long been a supposed distinction between what are called the arts and what are called crafts. But it is an arbitrary distinction that has little real basis. There is no doubt that the work of craftsmen and craftswomen often have the same high artistic quality as the work of many fine artists.
On the north side of 53rd Street in Manhattan between Fifth Avenue and the Avenue of the Americas is New YorkÕs world-renowned Museum of Modern Art. On the south side of the same street is the American Craft Museum. Anyone who visits both museums will find that the works on exhibition are of the same high artistic quality. Indeed, if both museums had one name (which perhaps they should have), visitors would think both places are the same.
A good example of this is the work of quilters. They gather pieces of printed cloth the way artists gather materials for collages. Perhaps the only distinction between them is that quilters make their work to be used, while artists make their work to be viewed. Quilters put together their designs for their homes, for friends, or to sell, and draw personal satisfaction in the colors and patterns they introduce into peopleÕs lives. They may not think their creations are worthy of being included in museum exhibitions, but as one can see from the selections in this portfolio, the objects they make deserve to be recognized as serious works of art. Quilters are masters of both their craft and their art, just as sculptors who know how to weld sections of steel together and photographers who know how to use their cameras and work in their darkrooms, are masters of their craft as well as their art. Quilters particularly have a wonderful eye for color and form and texture and they create visually exciting works when they select random pieces of fabric that others might discard and combine them in highly imaginative ways.
The quilts shown here are among the many that will be exhibited in the Great Catskill Mountain Quilt Show, which is a component of the exciting Mountain Culture Festival taking place in the Village of Hunter on July 14 and 15. We hope you enjoy these images and that you stop by to see these and other quilts along with the many other offerings of the Festival.
– David Finn
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