A Collaboration with True/False
On display in our South Gallery
FEB 28 - MAR 25
Traceable through history, originating within ancient civilizations of Egypt, China, North Africa and the Middle East, the art of quilting has been and remains still a vessel for storytelling. Language is the thread and culture is the needle that tells the tale.
In American history, quilting began as simply sewing discarded materials together to create items of functionality: clothing and blankets for warmth. As a skill most traditionally developed and mastered by women, quilting has been, for many, the means for developing independence, identity, and a sense of accomplishment. It evolved from an effort of practicality to a way for women to generate income and become self-sufficient. Quiltmaking has for centuries now, been a catalyst for community, creating a network to share the heritage and tradition embedded in the practice, a tradition often passed from one generation to the next.
Hanging in our South Gallery is “Community Thread”, an idea born from the brains of artists Carrie Elliott and Esther Stroh. Making a quilt of any size is an immense undertaking, and this 9 x 9-foot creation is no exception.
Featured during this year’s True/False Film Festival, it made sense to center the quilt around the same theme as the film festival, “This is a Test”. The quilt squares were thought of as “test swatches” where different embroidery techniques could be explored: embroidery, batik, fabric painting, and applique. Carrie and Esther, who acted as lead artists on the project, steered community members through a series of four, free workshops hosted at the Columbia Art League, each focusing on one of the four embroidery techniques. The result was over 345 quilt squares.
Now faced with the task of sewing every square together, Carrie and Esther, with the help of a friend, decided to split the squares into three even groups. They each sewed their squares into rows of 19, reconvening to then sew the rows together. The next step was to sandwich the quilt, meaning to attach a back side and add edging. The design on the back of the quilt was made using printmaking. It includes momentos from Ragtag Cinema such as their logo, the couches and chairs in their theatres, as well as film reels and tickets. The idea was to keep the back of the quilt simple, but more elevated than simply using fabric from the store. If you’re paying attention to the details when viewing the back of the quilt, you will see that some stamps overlap from one square to the next, perfectly aligned. That is no coincidence, rather the effort of Carrie who pieced the back together like a, “mad scientist cutting fabric and hoping for the best”.
An open call was made for volunteers to attend quilting bees (gatherings at which people quilt) at the Columbia Public Library and assist in the sandwhiching of the quilt. This is no swift process, in fact it took them two full days to hand stitch the back to the front. Attaching the edging of the quilt took about half a day to complete.
This quilt is more than just a quilt. Stitched into it are trademarks of Columbia and tokens of personal significance. There are 684 squares total, no two exactly alike, ensuring that you will see something new each time you look at it. And because it is a True/False film festival collaboration, you will find many squares refer to the legacy of the fest, with names of films that have premiered in years past.
“Community Thread” was a labor of love from start to finish. Carrie Elliott and Esther Stroh were able to capture the essence of Columbia in this quilt, an essence of communal spirit. History reveals that needle and thread have the potential to transcend any boundary of time, but it also tells us that the most essential part to any story is the person who tells it. We are very proud to have a piece of work hanging in our gallery that not only represents all that is good within our community, but one that was made by people ambitious enough to make that first stitch.
This quilt will hang in the South Gallery of the Columbia Art League until Wednesday, March 22nd, 2023. After that, it will go to the True/False permanent collection, to be put on display every year during the fest. Visit the gallery and see this incredible piece of art.
