Frist Art Museum Unpacks the Fabric of American Identity in New Quilt Show
Summary
The humble quilt has long been a major player in folk art museums around the country, though in recent years it's made its way into the more mainstream spotlight. Following this path,Fabric of a Nation: American Quilt Stories, a forthcoming exhibition at Nashville's Frist Art Museum, will present a nearly 50-piece quilt and coverlet showcase hailing from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, each its own immaculate patchwork of the personal and the political.
Spanning more than 300 years of U.S. history, the exhibit traces quilting's evolution and threads this timeless art form into the broader story of American identity, stitch by stitch. From 18th-century heirlooms to works made as recently as 2021, the exhibition celebrates stories behind these textile relics alongside the medium's unsung heroes and the voices too often left out of traditional art histories.
'Today, quilters have expanded the medium to encompass a wide range of techniques, materials and imagery,' says senior curator Katie Delmez. Once just a means of warmth, utility and craft, in the mid-19th century, quilting flourished into an art form of its own as makers began to identify more with textile art.
Now a powerful form of artistic and cultural expression, contemporary quiltmakers from all walks of life turn the the medium to reckon with today's ideas and issues, such as racism and gun violence to immigration and Indigenous sovereignty. In this space, fabric becomes a soft but unflinching testimony to the complex visual, cultural and racial fabric of American life, and the myriad of stories that emerge.
Head to the Frist'swebsitefor more information.
Frist Art Museum919 Broadway,Nashville, TN 37203
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Talk about a perfect storm. On Wednesday, Giancarlo Guerrero's much-fêted debut as principal conductor and artistic director of the Grant Park Music Festival was dampened by relentless rain. Audiences scrunched under the Jay Pritzker Pavilion fringe, only to play musical chairs dodging the structure's many (and ever-changing) leaky spots. When they weren't doing that, seat shuffles and squabbles competed with the evening's violin concerto. But if Guerrero appeared unflappable onstage, it's because he's been there before. He made his sophomore appearance with the orchestra in 2014 under nearly identical circumstances, down to the solo string showcase and contemporary American opener. Despite the lousy weather, that appearance impressed festival musicians enough to fast-track Guerrero to the top of their director wishlist a decade later. 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