The Fairfield Art Association will open a new exhibit featuring Iowa Art Quilters and Fiber Artists on Friday, May 1st at the Fairfield Arts and Convention Center. Eight recognized Iowa artists will be featured in the Main Gallery, with an opening reception for artists and guests from 6 to 9 p.m.
The exhibit will feature up to 50 original art quilt works in a variety of sizes and styles, many of which will be available for purchase. The artists included in the display are Karen Anne Babcock Grimes, Sue Kluber, Judy Ludwick, Wendy Read, Barbara Riggs, Kathryn Roe, Jean Taft, and Patricia Weber.
Iowa Art Quilters began meeting in 2005 in Grinnell as a group formed to encourage and support one another in the creation of art quilts. Unlike traditional quilts made for functional use, an art quilt is designed to hang on the wall rather than lay on a bed. Art quilts are original works designed and constructed by the artist and can range from abstract to representational, depicting landscapes, faces, objects, or reinterpretations of traditional quilt block patterns.
The medium is known for its creative flexibility. Artists frequently incorporate a wide variety of fabrics, threads, and embellishments such as beads, sequins, buttons, metal, and wood. Surface design — which involves altering the fabric itself — is a common technique, with artists adding or removing color through dye, paint, or bleach applied with brushes, stamps, or stencils. Some artists go further by selectively manipulating the cloth through methods such as controlled burning, rusting, folding, scrunching, or gathering to achieve unique textures and visual effects.
