Sacred Threads 2009

Sacred Threads opens today in Ohio. To quote from the website, "This biennial exhibition was established to provide a safe venue for quilters of all faiths who see their work as a connection to the sacred and/or as an expression of their spiritual journey."

I think this is a wonderful concept, especially in its embrace of ALL expressions of faith. The world needs more acceptance and celebration of diverse points of view. I've had work in previous Sacred Thread exhibits, and I thought it was such an important project that I did some volunteer work in the form of typing chores and such that could be done long-distance. This year, thanks to the work of Lisa Ellis in putting the submission and jurying process online, I was privileged to be able to serve on the show committee and help jury the show.

Jurying was a very intense experience. The guidelines for the show place an emphasis on the artist's statement as well as the images. I spent a LOT of time reading all the statements, looking at the details of the images, and reaching my decisions. Quite frankly, all of the works submitted deserve to be shown, they were all personal and meaningful works of art, and only space considerations made selecting necessary. I really enjoyed the jurying process, have a new appreciation for what's involved, and would love to do more of it in the future.

My two quilts, Mystery Fern (top two pictures) and Wood Poppy (bottom two pictures) were juried in, and will hang in a section with the works by other committee members. New this year will be a CD of all the works in the show, including the accompanying statements. I had a preview of the CD and it's very well done; it's reasonably priced and will be available at the show and on the website. Also new this year is a exhibit of 17 quilts crafted by inmates from the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville. These quilts are incredible moving, and what they may lack in traditional technical skills, they more than make up for in honest and relevance of expression.

My congratulations and thanks to Vikki Pignatelli, Wendy Bynner (Wendy is quoted in a newspaper article here), Lisa, and everyone else who works so hard to put on this exhibit. Go if you can!