A collection of quilts crafted by contemporary artists from throughout the United States will open Saturday at the Argenta Branch of the William F. Laman Public Library in North Little Rock's downtown, the first museum-quality exhibition at the new library.
The exhibition, "The Sum of Many Parts: Quiltmakers in Contemporary America," will be displayed at the Argenta Branch, 420 Main St., until Aug. 16. The exhibition is free and open to the public during library hours, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday.
A craft dating to pre-colonial times, quilting uses techniques of "piecing, patching and appliqueing" fabrics to create patterned quilts, which originally were stitched together from whatever materials were handy for the practical use as a bed cover to keep warm. In later times, quilting evolved into American folk art.
"It really is a lost art now," said Dan Noble, public relations manager for the William F. Laman Library System. "It's like seeing a beautiful painting," he added. "This is what these really are, with the fabric being the canvas."
The exhibition, a traveling display by ExhibitsUSA, a national program of Mid-America Arts Alliance, is part of a larger exhibition that toured China in 2012-2013, according to an exhibition media packet.
The exhibition, at a cost of $2,000 to the Laman Library System, highlights a range of quilting styles, including different sizes and shapes.
"The attention to detail in these is amazing," Noble said. "I think artists, or painters, will be coming in here looking at these. This is art, no doubt about it. Art that can keep you warm, too."
Among the 14 quilts in the North Little Rock display is one from Louisiana Randolph, a member of a famed community quilting group in Gee's Bend, Ala. Quilting in Gee's Bend, a small, black community on the Alabama River southeast of Selma, Ala., began receiving national attention during the latter part of the last century.
Gee's Bend quilts have since been part of national modern art tours nationally. Images of Gee's Bend quilts have even been depicted on postage stamps issued by the U.S. Postal Service.
The Argenta Branch opened March 31 in the former downtown post office building that the Postal Service closed in June 2012. The 83-year-old building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Laman Library, with a loan from the city that's been repaid, bought the building and renovated it to create the $3.5 million Argenta Branch, including a glassed-in, L-shaped gallery area to bring small exhibits to downtown. The former Argenta branch of the library, 506 Main St., closed in January.
The Argenta Branch has already displayed photographic exhibits featuring the old post office's history and part of an exhibition marking the 50th anniversary of The Beatles first coming to the United States, but the quilting exhibit is the first national traveling exhibit to be featured. Noble said the library branch will focus on smaller exhibits than those featured at the main library, located at 2801 Orange St. in North Little Rock.
The Argenta Branch gallery has about 1,000 square feet of exhibit room, Noble said, while the main library's exhibition gallery is more than 1,300 square feet.
Metro on 07/04/2014