Modern Meets Modern

Modern Meets Modern

September 16, 2021 - March 19, 2022
West Gallery

What happens when yesterday’s Modern meets today’s Modern?

Today’s quiltmakers are finding ways to reimagine what a quilt can look like. In this effort, they sometimes employ bold colors, large areas of negative space, improvisational piecing, asymmetry, and unexpected visual juxtapositions to construct novel, fresh, Modern quilts. The Modern Quilt Movement and its graphically sophisticated outcomes have become hallmarks of 21st-century quiltmaking.

150 years ago, quilts were undergoing a different transformation. American industry, commerce, and society were modernizing rapidly. This Modern Age of quiltmaking (1870-1940) was defined by new tools, materials, techniques, visual references, and participants. More people could afford to make quilts, using fabrics, implements, and pattern inspirations previously unknown or unavailable. In some ways, the same is true today.

Come explore what happens when today’s Modern and yesterday’s Modern are brought together in ways that reveal quiltmaking synergies across the ages.

Support for this exhibition has been provided by the sponsors listed above, and by contributions from visitors like you.
Event Date
Friday, September 24, 2021 to Saturday, March 19, 2022