New York quilt collector John (Jack) M. Walsh III and art curator Penny McMorris together have established a singularly important collection of studio art quilts. Seeking innovative and extraordinary vision, they acquired pieces by leading art quilters of the Studio Movement, including quilts featured in the Top 100 Quilts of the Twentieth Century and by honorees of the Master of the Medium award from the James Renwick Alliance for Craft. Walsh also collects work by emerging artists.

Water FEATURED includes pieces commissioned by Walsh to celebrate his love of water, inspired by his career in water utilities and the proximity of Lake Michigan in his childhood and later, by the waterfalls of Watkins Glen, New York. Walsh requested that the artists use the water theme, but otherwise gives no guidance, encouraging the artists to work freely in their own artistic style. The resulting work encompasses many of the trends developed in quilting in the last decades: threadwork, hand-dyeing, digital printing, machine quilting and embellishment.

The John M. Walsh III Collection has traveled to exhibitions all over the world and has been featured in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.