Carteret County News-Times 1

Carteret County News-Times 2

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Thank Thank you Diane for the lovely review of E Pluribus Unum II at the Crystal Coast Quilters Guild show.  I’m so happy you enjoyed the exhibit and that its mission to highlight the many cultures that make America great is a success

Click image to view

NOTE:  For ease of shipping and hanging the exhibit, one of the requirements to participants was to keep the quilts uniform in size.

If you would like to share your impression of E Pluribus Unum II or the Cultural Cloth workshop, please do so in the comment section below.

What is better than viewing great art quilts? Viewing them against the backdrop of the ocean on a beautiful Spring day with blue skies and a lovely breeze!

What a pleasure it was to see E Pluribus Unum II: Cultures in Cloth showing at the Crystal Coast Quilters Guild 28^th

Roots by Louisa Smith

Annual Show in Morehead City, NC. Enhanced by the lovely black drape, enough room was allocated to allow for viewers to experience each work individually.
I had to opportunity to speak with visitors about the exhibit, and as I hoped, they shared their own stories of becoming American either through ancestry or personally. With a parent, grandparent, or ancestor that overcame great challenges to become American, or through good old fashioned ingenuity, each left a mark on this country that deserves remembrance.

Many had questions about the variety of techniques used in the art quilts: How did Sandra Betts create that holographic image? What kind of paint was used? Those beads are just perfect against the macrame!

The required photo-transfer images in each work were as diverse as the quilts themselves. Visitors marveled the work from various angles, noting the effects created both up close and afar.

From Sea to Shining Sea by CCQG Member Laurie Mayo

Hanging with the exhibit were quilted collages created by members of the Crystal Coast Quilters Guild in the Cultural Cloth: Exploring and Expressing Our Cultural Histories a couple of months before the show. The works are amazing, and highlight the intent of this project: to celebrate through an artful and insightful manner, the many ways Americans came to Americans.

Heritage is important to Americans, individually and collectively. It is the independent individual who continues the American Independence.

To see more images of the E Pluribus Unum II and Cultural Cloth quilts from the Crystal Coast Quilters Guild show, please visit Cultural Cloth on Facebook .  Contact culturalcloth@gmail.com to learn about bringing E Pluribus Unum II and Cultural Cloth to your guild or community.  As always, please leave a comment below.

Ann showing cultural art quilts.

Before the meeting and during the break, the quilts of EPU II were available for up close viewing. During the presentation, I read the statements and spoke about the purpose of the exhibit, intent of the artists and techniques utilized in the works while guild volunteers walked the room with the quilts.

Through the art of fiber and words, each quilt told a story of just one aspect of how each came to be American, as well as Canadian for some of our artists. Whether they traveled from other continents, or spoke to their Native American ancestry, all the participants portrayed the pride they feel in E Pluribus Unum, and provided hope that we all can be part of one America, out of many cultures.

Speaking to a full house, and into overtime, the quilts of EPU II, as well as some of my own cultural art quilts, touched everyone. Unfortunately, we ran out of time before all questions could be answered, but some members stayed beyond the lecture to talk more about the quilts while I packed up the exhibit.

On behalf of the artists of EPU II, and the artists of Quiltart.com, thank you Frontera Quilt Guild for hosting E Pluribus Unum II. It was a joy to visit with you all and hear some of the stories of how you came to be American. Each is unique and, simultaneously, universal.

Please feel free to leave your comments on the exhibit below.

Culturally Yours,

Ann Flaherty

Medicine Creek Lodge by Linda H. MacDonald

E Pluribus Unum II: Cultures in Cloth is now open for viewing in the Quiltart.com galleries.  A remarkable collection of art quilts, these works reflect the many cultures that comprise our nation, articulating our motto: E Pluribus Unum (Out of Many, One).

Imagine the journeys of the people whose stories are depicted in this exhibit. Whether they traveled the world or were native to these lands, each had personal trials to overcome in their path to America.

As you wander through our online gallery, consider E Pluribus Unum and how these simple words played a role in making this country the great republic that has offered refuge and prosperity to so many.

We are all individual in our beliefs, yet as one we understand that we are all human, that we can grow together under the liberties of our Constitution, that we all strive for the same goal, a better life for our children and our children’s children.

To schedule E Pluribus Unum II:  Cultures in Cloth at a venue near you, please visit About the Exhibit:  E Pluribus Unum II or write to culturalcloth@gmail.com.

Also available is the workshop, Cultural Cloth:  Exploring and Expressing Our Cultural Histories.

We would love to hear from you! Please return here after viewing the exhibit and share your thoughts, comments and EPU II experiences in the comment section below.  We each have our own ‘American’ story to tell.

We’ve imagined this day, when ANYONE can be President of the United States for some time.  I look at my grandchildren with sixteen cultures running through thier veins, and wonder at the many people of different colors that came together to create them.  I look at my family who are Catholic, Jewish, SDA, Baptist, Bhuddist and just plain spiritual, and thank God for this great country that allows us all to worship as we please.  And I look at the participants in my workshops, and the phenomenal work of the many artists of E Pluribus Unum II and marvel at the many cultures they have portrayed.

I am in awe . . . what a great day and grand country we live in!

God Bless America

To learn more about E Pluribus Unum II, please click on the links to the left.  To learn how E Pluribus Unum II and Cultural Cloth can be a part of your community’s diversity program, please email culturalcloth@gmail.com.

Collages created in Cultural Cloth workshops are receiving enthusiastic responses. It was an honor to see the work of Carolina Mixed Media Art Guild (CMMAG) members displayed at the Art of the Carolinas 2008 event this weekend at the Hilton North in Raleigh, NC.

Hundreds of visitors were greeted with CC collage pieces at the CMMAG booth as they entered the venue. Responding with oohs and aahs, questions and comments, the visitor interest in the cultures depicted in the works clearly met the third goal of Cultural Cloth workshops: to bring the community into the discussion .

To view more finished Cultural Cloth fiber collage pieces, please click on the Cultural Cloth Gallery I page above. There you will find wonderful examples created in the workshop, along with the artist statements.

Please take a moment to write a response to the works, make a general comment or ask a question, and always feel free to write to directly to culturalcloth@gmail.com.

© Michelle Davis Petelinz 2008

Welcome to Cultural Cloth: Exploring and Expressing Our Cultural Histories. I hope you will return here again and again, as Cultural Cloth workshop participants share their work and experiences. We have plenty of space for comments, and welcome your input into the ongoing discussion of diversity in America.

Cultural Cloth, the workshop, utilizes fiber collage, also known as fabric collage, to entice group discussion. Fiber is present in every culture. We all feel fabric against our skin in clothing, and in our beds as we sleep. Fibers serves to frame the view out our windows and as a barrier between our feet and a cold floor. The touch of fiber is as natural as taking a breath, a breath that has been adorned with custom, tradition and imagination.

While creating the collage, group members share their thoughts, experiences and the effects of cultural diversity in their lives.  The topics vary and are derived from the subjects being explored in the art.  Participants may talk about a personal experience, tell the immigration story of an ancestor, or the successes and failures of diversity in their community. Asking questions of each other, misconceptions and stereotypes are addressed in a non-threatening environment.

Through exhibiting the art work completed in the workshop, the conversation moves out of the workshop, into the community. When we are free to just talk about our experiences, we are free to change the way we think about race, ethnicity and multiculturalism right at home, in the communities we live and work in every day.

I had the great joy of sharing Cultural Cloth with members of the Carolina Mixed Media Artists Guild.  Together, we learned a great deal about each other, and how we came to be American.  Eight guild members , some with no fiber experience at all, created fiber collages depicting the influences of Asia, The Netherlands, Native America, Wales, the Southwest, New Orleans, Mexico and Germany.

Carolina Mixed Media Art Guild Workshop

Looking around the table, I didn’t see a lot of difference in the faces of the participants. There were eight proud Americans, who valued their right to vote as dearly as their lives. Yet, listening to the discussion, these women couldn’t have been more diverse, each holding a distinct opinion on what it is to be part of  ‘the ‘many’ who make up the ‘one’.

Experiences discussed ranged from the perception of ‘Southern’ intellect in other areas of the country, to the blended cultures of the ‘Bayou’.   Of importance to all was the rhetoric of the current election and how  all Americans are effected and distracted by it.

Food is an integral part of just about every culture. This group decided on a pot luck meal for lunch break with amazing dishes that reflected the cultures of the collages. Foods such as gumbo, sausage and sauerkraut, enchilada casserole and black-eyed peas are rarely seen on the same menu, but really do work well together. What a treat it was to share!

I hope you enjoy these examples of the work created in this workshop. It was a pleasure to share the works, along with their statements, at Art of the Carolinas 2008, an event sponsored by Jerry’s Artarama . For more information about the guild, please visit the Carolina Mixed Media Artists Guild.

Culturally Yours,

Ann Flaherty