Quilter's Muse Virtual Museum
Copyright 2002-2006, Quilter's Muse Publications. All rights reserved.
Patricia and James Cummings, Concord, NH
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In 2002, those who are interested in contemporary art quilts had a chance to see some fine examples of the genre at the DeCordova Museum, which is a contemporary art museum in Lincoln, MA. Clara Wainwright is a prolific art quilter who makes quilts to express feelings related to certain themes such as domestic violence, the future of Tibet, and many other social, political, and environmental issues. She also creates special quilts for celebrations such as Boston's First Night and Kite Festival. The very large quilts in her exhibit are mindboggling.
Her quilt images are achieved by machine appliqué techniques and she draws from many cultures, including that of ancient Egypt, for her reference points. Clara seems to have centered on selecting themes of ethnicity as the basis of most of her work.
Clara also teaches her art quilting to young people. The videotape available for viewing explained some of her methods. She appears not to worry about any mistakes in the quilts. For example, she stated that if a quilt is a little lumpy, one can just quilt around the lump, gathering the fabric in the back, to make it appear as if the lump was planned. Her freestyle way of thinking "outside the box" is one of her trademarks.
The Museum has six floors, five of which have exhibits including photography, paintings, and sculpture. The grounds have modern sculpture throughout. There is also a lovely view of a pond and woods from the sixth floor. A café serves everything from soup to desserts.
For more information, please see www.decordova.org or send e-mail to: info@decordova.org.
Museum hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
©Copyright 2002. Patricia and James Cummings, Quilter's Muse Publications, Concord, NH.
Write to us at: pat@quiltersmuse.com
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