You have until December 21 to view 54 pieces from the John M. Walsh III Collection on exhibit at the Texas Quilt Museum. If you’re anywhere near La Grange, Texas, make this trip. As a matter of fact, make a point of going. It is the largest exhibition of the Walsh collection ever. Sandra Sider, the curator of the Texas Quilt Museum, has ensured each piece makes its own mark while still showing why it belongs in the collection. No photography is allowed in this exhibition, but we received permission to pose in front of Terrie Hancock Mangat‘s iconic “American Heritage Flea Market.” The exhibition fills all the galleries, providing the viewer plenty of opportunity to look for connections and conversations between the pieces.
In collecting quilts, which Jack Walsh has done since 1992, he had the good judgment to engage Penny McMorris as his expert consultant. In looking at the pieces on display at the TQM, it seemed to us that not only did Jack collect influential, pioneering, and emerging artists, but he often seemed to have the best of their work. That is why this collection is so important to view. A few examples of what we mean are Linda Colsh‘s “Cabinet of Curiosities,” Valerie S. Goodwin‘s “Lay of the Land II,” Judith Content‘s “Prism,” and Susan Shie‘s “Savannah: Two of Cups in the Kitchen Tarot.” Some of these were commissions for the collection, but they are all among the best examples of quilt art around. Click on the links provided to learn more about these artists.
