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New Exhibits Opening at Piedmont Arts

New Exhibits Opening at Piedmont Arts

For the 12th year, colorful quilts and fiber arts created by artists from across the Southeast will be on display at Piedmont Arts as part of the museum’s biennial invitational exhibition, The Art of the Quilt.

The exhibit will be on display at the museum October 24, 2020 – January 9, 2021.

Forty-two artists will take part in this fiber arts showcase co-curated by master quilter Linda Fiedler and quilter Betty Blessin. 

Themed “Anything Goes,” this year’s exhibit features hand- and machine-stitched quilts, contemporary textiles, and a special Van Gogh Challenge. A “challenge” is when a group of quilters all create quilts with a common theme, pattern, stitch or material. This challenge encouraged quilters to create a quilt inspired by one of Vincent van Gogh’s works of art.

“This exhibit is an indicator of the creative energy among artists who are currently making quilts,” said Fiedler. “Having evolved beyond the quilt as just a bed covering, these artists approach quiltmaking much as an artist approaches painting — by combining idea, color, material, composition, form, texture, and spontaneity to express their personal interpretation of their world."

Two of Fiedler's personal goals as a quilt artist are to educate the community to the many wonderful changes taking place in the evolution of the quilt and to present quilts in a gallery setting. "Piedmont Arts shares these goals and provides the beautiful gallery,” Fiedler continued. "I applaud Piedmont Arts for their vision and commitment and look forward with a great deal of anticipation to future shows in their state-of-the-art galleries.”

Fiedler is an award-winning quilt maker from Meadows of Dan, Virginia. Her quilts have won national and international awards and her quilted clothing has appeared in such prestigious shows as the Fairfield Fashion Show and the Hobb’s Fashion Show in Paducah, Kentucky. Fiedler’s quilts hang in private and corporate collections throughout the country.

Works by Virginia Foothills Quilters Guild will be on display in the museum’s Lynwood Artists Gallery. Virginia Foothills Quilters Guild, a Piedmont Arts Community Partner, was formed to create, stimulate, maintain and report an interest in all matters pertaining to the making, collecting and preserving of quilts, and to establish and promote educational endeavors through quilting. The Guild meets weekly at Piedmont Arts.

Join Piedmont Arts for an Opening Reception in honor of these exhibits on Friday, October 23, 2020 from 5:30 – 7:30 pm at the museum. Free and open to the public. Complimentary wine and light refreshments will be served. Live music by Lauren Luther. This reception is sponsored by Virginia Consortium of Quilters, Virginia Foothills Quilters Guild, Nancy and Milt Davis, Jill and Jay Dickens, Joan and Monty Montgomery, Barbara and Guy Stanley and Lynwood Artists. Limited capacity. Please RSVP attendance by October 20, 2020 to 276.632.3221 or online at PiedmontArts.org.