On Saturday, June 4, 2022, from 10 am to 5 pm, the Newport Art Museum will host a Free Community Day called “Quilting Generations Together,” with special programming from 12 – 4pm.
Special programming will celebrate family in all its many forms with collaborative art making and storytelling. A giant quilt-making project, collaborative weaving, workshops, storytelling and more will be available for all ages and skill levels, presenting an opportunity to reflect upon family histories, and memorialize an event, person, or place of importance with fabrics and trims. The event is inspired by the Museum’s exhibition “Velvet & Silk: The Palmer Family Quilts,” which will open Saturday, May 28. Free Admission to the Museum will be available all day June 4, from 10am to 5pm, with workshops taking place from 12 – 4pm. More information and registration is available at www.newportartmuseum.org. This event was made possible with a grant from the John Clarke Trust, Bank of America, N.A., Co-Trustee.
Visitors are invited to learn new and old textile techniques, cut fabric and design artwork, and share knowledge and stories, literally and figuratively weaving our experiences together. A visual celebration, the Community Album Quilt and Wishing Weave will be displayed in the Museum’s gallery, and continually added to, all summer.
The Museum will partner with a number of community organizations and artists to produce art-making and storytelling opportunities and demonstrations throughout the day.
Sankofa Community Connection will be joined by local quilt maker Veronica Mays to provide guidance, design suggestions, and tips to visitors as they sew, glue, or draw a design on their own quilt squares. The individual squares, which can memorialize a person or event, will be sewn together to form a collaborative Album Quilt. All materials provided and all ages and abilities welcome.
Visitors are encouraged to reflect on community and write their wishes for the future on decorative strips of fabric. The strips will be woven together with the assistance of the artists and weavers from Looking Upwards Art Hubs, and the final piece will be displayed in the gallery.
A number of artist demonstrations, including basic hand embroidery stitches to decorate quilt squares and how to dye fabrics with natural dye, will take place throughout the galleries and Museum grounds.
Visitors are invited to share their personal story of a textile object of personal significance in an open-mic storytelling session with Raffini of the Rhode Island Black Storytellers.
Drop-in, docent-led mini-tours of “Velvet & Silk: The Palmer Family Quilts” will serve as inspiration.
More information and registration is available at www.newportartmuseum.org.