JULY 19, 2010
PRESS RELEASE
CONTACT: Lora Helou (helou@msu.edu), Communications Manager, Michigan
State University Museum, 517-432-3357
MSU MUSEUM SYMPOSIUM CONNECTS COLLECTIONS, RESEARCH AND QUILT HISTORY
MSU MUSEUM, EAST LANSING, MICH. — Michigan State University Museum
announces a major event this fall: “Unpacking Collections: The Legacy
of Cuesta Benberry and a Symposium on Using Quilt History
Collections, ” to explore the connections between using collections in
making or studying quilts.
The symposium is set for Oct. 8-10, 2010 in East Lansing, Mich., and
is planned in conjunction with an exhibition that showcases examples
of materials from the Cuesta Benberry Quilt History Collections that
were recently acquired by the MSU Museum.
Scholars and creative artists use private and public collections of
objects and archival materials to inform their work. What do they
collect? Where do they find collections and how exactly do they use
them? What do they do with the collections when they are done? How
have they been inspired by collections? What obstacles do they
encounter when building or using collections? These questions and
more will be explored in the MSU Museum symposium.
“We were wonderfully surprised and honored that Cuesta Benberry’s
collections have come to the Michigan State University Museum,” says
Marsha MacDowell, MSU Museum curator and MSU professor of art and art
history. “Research-based collections like hers are critical to still
under-studied but important aspects of quilt history and of African
American art and cultural history. We know that this collection of
primary materials will enable scholars here on campus and around the
world to benefit from Cuesta’s trail-blazing work and to carry it
forward. Her collections and others held at the MSU Museum allow us
also to examine the importance of building and using collections in
creative, scholarly, and educational ways,” she adds.
To download the symposium brochure and to register by mail or online,
go to: http://museum. msu.edu/Events/ cbsymposium/
Noted individuals who have used collections in their scholarly and
creative work and will speak at the symposium include Lauren Cross,
Kyra Hicks, Carolyn Mazloomi, Patricia Turner,and Merikay Waldvogel.
In addition there will be a showing of Cross’s film The Skin Quilt
Project film, book sales, author book signings, and an information
session on using The Quilt Index (www.quiltindex. org); “Sit and
Stitch” with quiltmakers and “Sit and Share Collections” with quilt
history collectors; and a reunion of participants in the African
American Quiltmaking in Michigan Project. Optional symposium package
add-on activities include “Behind the Scenes” tours of the MSU Museum
African American and African Quilt Collections and an opportunity to
have your quilt documented for the Michigan Quilt Project/The Quilt
Index.
Self-guided tours of the exhibition Unpacking Collections: The Legacy
of Cuesta Benberry, An African American Quilt Scholar, and the
concurrent Dear Mr. Mandela, Dear Mrs. Parks: Children’s Letters,
Global Lessons (an exhibition produced by the Nelson Mandela Museum
and the Michigan State University Museum in collaboration with the
Keeper of the Word Foundation) will also be available.
Members of the Great Lakes African American Quilt Network, the
Lansing Sisters in Stitches, and Flint African American Quilt Guild
will serve as volunteer hosts and will have information on their
organizations.
The symposium is being organized by the Michigan State University
Museum and has been supported by a major grant from the Salser Family
Foundation with additional support from the MSU Museum Studies
Program, MSU Department of Art and Art History, MSU Women’s Resource
Center, African and African American Studies Program, MSU Office for
Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives, and the MSU Residential
College of Art and Humanities.
For more information about the exhibition, visit
http://museum.msu.edu/Exhibitions/Current/TheLegacyofCuestaBenberry. html
The Great Lakes Quilt Center at the Michigan State University Museum
Michigan State University Museum’s Great Lakes Quilt Center continues
the Michigan Quilt Project documentation project, initiated in 1985;
has completed major documentation projects on Michigan
African-American quiltmaking and North American Indian quiltmaking;
is currently engaged in a documentation project on South African
quiltmaking; has a collection of over 700 quilts, a strong collection
of quiltmaking ephemera, and a library of over 2000 quilt-related
publications; and regularly mounts and tours exhibitions of quilts.
Michigan State University Museum partners with the Alliance for
American Quilts and MATRIX: Center for Humane Arts, Letters, and
Social Sciences Online to lead the development of The Quilt Index
(www.quiltindex.org) and Quilt Treasures
(www.centerforthequilt.org/treasures). For more information about the
collections and programs of the center, go to
http://www.museummsu.edu/glqc/
The Michigan State University Museum
The MSU Museum is Michigan’s natural science and culture museum and
the state’s first Smithsonian Institution affiliate. The MSU Museum
– accredited by the American Association of Museums — collects,
preserves, studies and interprets cultural artifacts and natural
history specimens, with collections numbering more than 1 million in
four buildings on the MSU campus. The MSU Museum is committed to
education, exhibitions, research and the building and stewardship of
collections that focus on Michigan and its relationship to the Great
Lakes and the world beyond. Learn more at: http://museum. msu.edu
Arts and culture at MSU
Arts and culture at MSU play a critical role in nurturing the human
spirit while contributing to a richer quality of life. Museums,
galleries, and gardens along with libraries, historic sites, and
performance spaces provide a catalyst for cultural exchange of
diverse ideas and inspirations. At the same time, audiences on
campus and around the world take advantage of academic and research
outreach programs such as public broadcasting, online resources, and
publications. Find out more at http://artsandculture.msu.edu.
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This announcement is brought to you as a courtesy of Quilter’s Muse Publications.
Tags: Cuesta Benberry Collection, Michigan State University, Symposium
