Lisa Call

Structures #55 ©2006 33″ x 74″

 
Quilt National 2007 opens tomorrow evening in Athens, Ohio and I’m sad to say I will not be in attendance. My piece, Structures #55, will have to take notes and let me know how it goes.

Quilt National is akin to the Academy Awards for artist/quiltmakers. At least to many folks. As with everything in life not everyone agrees. But it is billed as one of the top notch shows for art quilts and it is one of the very few that I will enter.

I continue to enter because they print a very nice hard covered catalog of the show and there is so little written about art quilts that these catalogs chronicle the history of the movement in a way that very few other sources can come close to. While the catalog lacks much critical writing on the contents of the show it does at least document the work and what the quiltmakers thought about their work. I want to be part of that history, so I enter the shows and this is the third show in which I’ve had work accepted. The image to the left is of the catalog for this years show. The cover image is a quilt by Susan Shie.

The first time I got in, in 2003, was probably the most exciting. I was pretty sure I had made a really good piece and I just had a feeling I would get in. Then the quick response rejection postcard arrived and I was really bummed. I hadn’t entered the show in years because I didn’t have any work I felt was of the caliber needed to be in the show but that year I was sure I had something. I got over the rejection and then a few days later an email arrived informing me I had been accepted. I didn’t believe it and emailed the director to confirm. Sure enough they got ahead of themselves with the postcards and my piece, Structures #11, was definitely in the show. I was absolutely thrilled.

In the days right before the opening of the show in 2003 I was in Washington, DC taking a class for work about portlet development on the IBM portal (doesn’t that sound fun?). I checked my email during a slow spot and someone had emailed me a link saying “is this your quilt”. So I clicked and there was a photo of the catalog on the page - with my quilt on the cover. I yelped in the middle of class so of course everyone came to look. They didn’t get it and within 3 minutes they were all back in their seats doing their homework. Reality check, the art quilt world is fairly small and computer geeks don’t care one hoot about it.

But first thing I did when I got to the Dairy Barn on opening night was find a book to confirm - and sure enough - there was my quilt right on the cover. That was very cool. The opening was a lot of fun and I went home. And my life didn’t change one tiny bit. Except one day I went to Borders and pulled the book off the shelf and set it in front of all the other books. My 15 seconds of fame I suppose.

 
 
In 2005 the stakes were higher for me getting into the show. The thought in my mind was if I only got in once would that make me a one hit wonder? I wasn’t as confident about the work for this year but I still thought it was good. And it’s not like the odds are all that good to get in - for 2007 only 86 pieces out of 1151 submitted were accepted. But the stars were aligned right and I got in. So did a lot of my friends. I wasn’t going to go to the opening but at the last minute I changed my mind and drove from Denver to Ohio and slept on the floor of someone else’s hotel room. The opening was fun, I hung out with friends and met some great new artists but I drove back home and again my life didn’t change any.

 
For 2007 I was pretty sure I had another good quilt and I’d get in the show. I really like my piece for this year. And sure enough I got in.

I’ve become one of those people that those that have never been in say "How come she always gets in?". I guess now that I’ve gotten in three times I get it. I get in because I work hard, I make a lot of work every year. I don’t ever set out to "make my quilt national quilt". Instead when the deadline rolls around I look at my work and pick out the 3 I’d like to enter. Because I work in a series I don’t have to plan ahead for this, it’s how I work.

When I look at the other folks that consistently get into this show year after year after year I mostly see the same thing. I don’t see people that have name recognition because they are in the in crowd. I see people that have worked very very hard at their art Does the jury recognize their work and automatically pick them based on their reputation, sure maybe sometimes, but they also make really great work, consistently. I think the jury sees strong work, they know the person isn’t copying someone else’s work but they are doing their own thing, so these folks keep getting in. But still as I recall nearly half the pieces each year are by first time exhibitors. It’s not an exclusive club. They let me in!

Okay that was pretty preachy and defensive wasn’t it. Sorry. I once said my goal was to become one of the people others complain about getting into the show each year. Maybe 3 times in a row might not quite qualify but I’m determined that I’ll be in 2009 also. Then I’ll have an excuse for the preaching.

 
I really wanted to attend the Quilt National opening but back in January we did some project planning here at work and because of the cut off for our next service pack I was required to be here to merge our final project into our main code line on the 24th and 25th of May (in human speak this means I had a commitment that couldn’t be broken). I came in at 6:45 this morning with high hopes of being done by midnight and then by some fluke catching a plane tomorrow morning and making it to the opening. But it didn’t happen. I’ll be here past midnight tonight and I still have over 8 hours of work for tomorrow so no opening for me this year. Sigh.

I’m bummed I can’t be at the show this year to visit with old friends and make some new as it’s always an interesting event. Everyone signs everyone else’s book, it’s like signing year books in high school and the only time I’m ever asked for an autograph.

I’m probably not the most welcome in some circles after my post about the Studio Art Quilt Association auction but that’s okay, I’m not looking to win a popularity contest. [SAQA has decided not to auction off the small quilts during the opening dinner but they will still be auctioning them online in June. I don’t know if they are going to do something about the issues I brought up, like underpricing the work and hurting the very people they claim to be helping, not marketing the work to a larger audience, and the unevenness of the work. But at least they aren’t going to be auctioning the things off in lots. That would have been ridiculous and I’m amazed they ever considered it.]

If you go to the opening I’d love to hear how it goes!

 
Quilt National 2007
The Dairy Barn Arts Center
800 Dairy Lane
Athens, OH 45701
740.592.4981

May 26 through September 3rd, 2007
Gallery Hours
    Tuesday-Wednesday, 11 AM to 5 PM
    Thursday, 11 AM to 8 PM
    Friday-Sunday, 11 AM to 5 PM

Admission Fees
    General Admission–$5.00
    Students/Senior Citizens [65+]–$3.50
    Barn Members–Free
    Children Under Twelve–Free

www.quiltnational.com