The exhibition at the MSU Museum, Earth Stories, includes quilts made by artists from seven countries and 11 states in the U.S.
Exhibit organizer for Earth Stories, Mary Worrall, says the idea came about because the MSU Museum wanted to do a project with an organization called the Studio Art Quilt Associates. The artists in the association choose quilts as the means in which they create the art.
“A main point is that each piece is an artistic rendering of that person’s concept of what an earth story is, so a lot of them did choose things with local connections to them,” Worrall said.
Some of the different subjects that artists wanted to display with their earth story were alternative energy, hunger in Africa, Planned Parenthood and landfills.
The MSU Museum is familiar with quilts as a means of art.
“One of our main centers within the museum is called the Great Lakes Quilt Center where we concentrate on things related to quilt studies,” Worrall said. “We have a collection of over 900 quilts from around the world.”
Worrall said most people think of quilts as something to sleep under in a bed or as a sentimental or cozy object.
“They (SAQA) use different techniques,” Worrall said. “Sometimes different shapes, materials, all sorts of things that might break apart the idea of what someone might have of as a quilt in their mind.”
Worrall said she usually has a favorite quilt in an exhibit but did not have one in the Earth Stories exhibit because she found so many of the quilts intriguing.
“It’s a neat fit for this museum in another way because we’re a museum of science and culture, and in this case, we’re bringing together the art piece and the culture but also bringing together a lot of different scientific projects,” Worrall said.
The exhibit continues through Nov. 26.