Wednesday, January 27, 2010

How It All Began


The Arkansas Quilt Registry is a project that began in 2006 at Ozark Folkways in Winslow, Arkansas and made possible in part by a grant from the Department of Arkansas Heritage. Below is the proposal portion of our approved 2006 Arkansas Heritage Month Grant Application. The theme for Arkansas Heritage Month in 2006 was "Discover Arkansas's Treasures".

Most treasures are not discovered accidentally. Most are discovered by means of hard work, organization, and often faith that the treasure even exists. It is no easy job, that of treasure hunter, especially when it is not lost cities or sunken gold he seeks but rather something more subtle, something equally valuable yet more ordinary.

This year's theme for Heritage Month delighted us at Ozark Folkways because we are developing a project that fits like tongue-in-groove.

Any worthwhile treasure hunt, though, begins with a map. This proposal is that map, and we believe it will ultimately lead to some of Arkansas's undiscovered cultural riches.

Ozark Folkways proposes to create the Arkansas Quilt Registry, an online database for any original quilts made or owned in the state of Arkansas. More often than not a quilt is a personal thing, an object made either amongst friends or by one member of a family intended for another. Even storebought or antique quilts with no personal connection, when given time and use, become personal.

Many people do not see all the art they could; this is not a statement concerning museum attendance, but rather concerning perception of the way our world is put together. Being involved in the arts, engages that person with the objects of everyday life. That quilt on the bed in grandmother's guest room is much more than a blanket to anyone who has ever sat for hours over a frame pulling needle and thread. That quilt becomes a world of decisions, each contributing a voice to the final result.

It's fun to daydream about a world powered by wind and populated with potters, quilters, weavers, and woodcarvers, but that is not the world we live in.

The problem of how to engage the larger public and engender awareness of the importance of handmade goods is as old as the industrial revolution.

Until recently the technological revolution only exacerbated the problem, but, as the internet has improved in speed and capacity, we have seen the rise of so-called humanities technology. Online art galleries and museum collections, websites for individual artists or workshops, forums and message boards allowing open dialogue between total strangers; all of these things hae become commonplace just in the last decade and are being used to great effect.

The Arkansas Quilt Registry has the potential to be a permanent, statewide venue for Arkansans to share images of and information about their valued quilts. The Registry would amount to a photographic documentaion of each quilt, both whole and in detail, accompanied by any information that exists about the quilt, provided by the owner of maker.

This project is about the collaboration of people all over to recognize and publicize the rich history of quilting in our state.

Best Wishes,

Rebecca Buchanan
Director
Ozark Folkways
Winslow, Arkansas



www.ozarkfolkways.org
www.facebook.com/ozarkfolkways

What Your Arkansas Quilt Registry Entry Should Include



Owner: Ozark Folkways Gallery Shop
Maker: Unknown
Pattern: Bear's Paw
Materials: Cotton
Date of Construction: 1940's
Method of Construction: Hand-pieced
Quilting: Hand-quilted
Information: This is an antique quilt we have for sale here in the shop. We all like it, so I thought it would make for a good example of a typical registry entry. It may be Amish.

Best Wishes,

Rebecca Buchanan
Director
Ozark Folkways
Winslow, Arkansas



www.ozarkfolkways.org
www.facebook.com/ozarkfolkways

Thank You

If you have a quilt that should be a part of this project or if you are part of a quilting group or guild and would like to schedule a date for numerous quilts to be registered, you can send an email to:
director@folkways.arcoxmail.com or call Rebecca at Ozark Folkways at 479-634-3791. Thank you all very much for helping to preserve and promote the rich history of quilting in Arkansas.

Best Wishes,

Rebecca Buchanan
Director
Ozark Folkways
Winslow, Arkansas

How to submit your quilt photos to the Arkansas Quilt Registry by email

Anyone who wishes to register a quilt but can't make it to Winslow, can photograph the quilt themselves and submit the images digitally.

When taking photos of your quilt, please frame your photo as close to the quilt as possible, approximating the composition of the other photographs on this site.

Attach your photos to an email and be sure to include:

The owners name:

The person who made the quilt, if known:

The pattern, if known:

The size of the quilt:

Approximate date of construction:

Method and materials used:

Any other information or short stories about the construction, materials, or maker of the quilt.

Send your information to:  director@folkways.arcoxmail.com  and we will be happy to include your quilt  in the Arkansas Quilt Registry.

Best Wishes,

Rebecca Buchanan
Director
Ozark Folkways
Winslow, Arkansas


www.ozarkfolkways.org
www.facebook.com/ozarkfolkways

Thank You

I'd like to thank all of the quilters and shop owners all over the state who have helped with the Arkansas Quilt Registry. Also well deserving of our thanks is the Department of Arkansas Heritage. Their continued support of the Arts and Heritage in Arkansas, is one of the main reasons the Arkansas Quilt Registry is active and in existence today. If you have a quilt that should be a part of this project or you are part of a quilting group or guild and would like to schedule a date for numerous quilts to be registered, you can send an email to director@folkways.arcoxmail.com or call Rebecca at Ozark Folkways at 479-634-3791.

Again, thank you all very much for helping preserve and promote the rich history of quilting in Arkansas.

Best Wishes,

Rebecca Buchanan
Director
Ozark Folkways