A List
9/16/02

QUILTS, 'MEMORY JARS' TO BE EXHIBITED IN SLU ART GALLERY

CANTON - An exhibition called "Soulful Pieces: Memory Jars and 
Improvised Quilts by Unknown Makers" will be in St. Lawrence 
University's Richard F. Brush Art Gallery September 26 through 
November 2. Curator Martha Watterson will host a discussion on 
Thursday, October 3, at 4:30 p.m. in the gallery, and on Friday, 
October 4, at 2 p.m. she will lead a workshop on making memory 
jars. Prior registration is required for the workshop, as space 
is limited; call 315-229-5174 to register.
	The exhibition includes some 40 quilts and memory jars 
from eight Chicago collections. According to Watterson, "Like life 
and death, day and night, sky and earth, improvised quilts and memory 
jars are symbiotic, organic opposites. Colors and patterns in 
improvised quilts shine like the sun in wakeful joy, while in memory 
jars, trinkets, buttons and coins peek out shyly and glisten like 
stars embedded in the night sky. Quilts evoke warmth, life and 
regeneration through sleep. Memory jars were created as memorials, 
and are believed to have functioned as grave decorations or markers 
in African-American communities in the South. As in a dream or in 
the unconscious mind, the patterns and colors in improvised quilts 
and the objects in memory jars are both logical and completely random."
	The pieces were first exhibited in Chicago at Intuit: The 
Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, where Watterson is 
associate/outreach director. A 1991 St. Lawrence graduate, she 
previously served as the arts in education program coordinator for the 
National PTA.  
	For more information or to arrange individual or group tours, 
contact the gallery at 315-229-5174. Note that the gallery will be 
closed October 10-13, during the University's mid-semester break.

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Images and more information from the Richard F. Brush Art Gallery

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