Meet the Jurors of Quilt Visions 2024

Caryl Breyer Fallert-Gentry

In 1983 I saw my first big international exhibition of art quilts and in 1987 my first Quilt Visions. Looking back over forty years of shows, one begins to notice trends, some driven by influential teachers, some by movements in the larger art world, and many driven by the developments in technology that have provided us with new tools for designing and making our quilts. Interestingly, the majority of this year’s entries and selections were made with relatively conventional materials and construction methods, Melanie B. McFarland’s paper quilt being the outstanding exception. The nearly thirty quilts chosen range in style from the tour de force of improvisational piecing in All About Color by Margret Black and the courageous restraint in Shine on Me by Julie Reuben which draws us in to see the complex design created by her hand stitching.
Each of these quilts has the “something special” that makes your eye keep coming back to take a second look and a third and fourth, and when you do, you are not disappointed by the quality of the details. In most of these works, the quilting lines are not just there to hold the layers together, but become the fine brush strokes that complete the work of art. These are works in which the artists have taken the time to hone their skills and integrate every part of their designs.

Some of the final pieces draw us in by their beauty like the tiny Emerald Gardens by Mel Beach, and the landscapes of Shin-Hee Chin and Sue Colozzi. Others may shock us and draw us in to find an important social message. And some, like Judy Kirpich’s subtly colored Iceland #8, just have that “it” factor that makes us love them without knowing why. It has been my privilege to study each of them.

Karl Reichert

What I love about the eclectic world of art quilts are the surprises. First impressions of quilts seen from a distance change as closer inspection reveals the fascinating use of materials and techniques. Quilt Visions 2024 showcases surprises that will inspire quilters and appreciators alike.

While I am not a quilter, I am an avid fan of art quilts. Serving as a juror with esteemed quilters Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry and Sandra Sider was a master class in art quilting. I enjoyed working with them to evaluate more than 250 submissions, and it was fun to find agreement on the final selections that exemplified “art quilting at the highest level of quality, innovation, surface design techniques, excellence in composition, and craftsmanship.”

Stories shared in cloth add to the depth of Quilt Visions 2024. Mill Town Bus Stop by Maggie Dillon is a nostalgic snapshot of a small mill town. “Young men board the bus after a long day in the steel mill,” Dillon writes, “an older man and his friends stop at the butcher shop on the way home for supper. There is something special about a small moment that leads people home to their families.”

The victims of the October 7 Hamas attack inspired Holly Cole to create the imagery in Acts of Terror, focusing on “the bigger issue of any violent and fanatic terrorist crime that attacks the innocent.”

Climate change is the subject of Kathy Nida’s Nowhere Else to Go, which portrays “a protective goddess holding a planet already in danger, as people run from the natural disasters we’ve created.”

Sarah Spencer’s All Hail the Queen is an exuberant portrait inspired by Queen Latifah, who was reimagined as an Egyptian queen who embraces healthy boundaries in our lives. “I invite all individuals needing assistance with enforcing personal boundaries to channel the energy of this queen,” Spencer writes.

Other surprises in Quilt Visions 2024 include the intricate stitching in Shin-hee Chin’s stunning Winter Trees—A Glimmer of Light, as well as the whimsical Self Portrait Paper Quilt by Melanie B. McFarland. This work is zipped together with an impressive list of materials “Infinite configurations can be arranged and rearranged, just by zipping and unzipping,” McFarland writes.

This exhibition is brimming with color, texture, and dazzling design. Quilt Visions 2024 is full of surprises!

Karl Reichert
Executive Director
Textile Center of Minnesota

Sandra Sider

Of the nearly thirty quilts in Quilt Visions 2024, more than one-third were created by artists who are exhibiting in this venue for the first time. It’s always exciting to jury a competition, and humbling when I realize that quite a few of the names of those selected for the show are new to me. We ended up with an appealing balance of abstract and representational pieces, plus several geometric designs bursting with graphic energy. Throughout the jurying process, we study the detailed images, looking for the hand or machine stitching that validates the quilt medium. Thread work spectacularly stands out in the pieces by Shin-hee Chin (the SAQA prize winner), Sue Colozzi, Julie Reuben, and Marianne Williamson. Sizes of the works on view range from Mel Beach’s luscious 12- by 12- inch Emerald Gardens to Self Portrait Paper Quilt by Melanie B. McFarland, a richly textured surface stitched together with zippers. As often has happened in juried exhibitions during the past decade, the influence of the Modern Quilt Guild’s minimalist aesthetic is obvious. These makers have developed confidence and a sure hand with composition, producing vibrant, jazzy artwork that tops off this exhibition. Finally, I want to say what a pleasure it was to collaborate with Carol, Caryl, and Karl to bring you Quilt Visions 2024.