SHORE THING Etsuko Takahashi’s Waves #4 is one of many stunning pieces currently on display at Museum of Quilt & Textile. Photo Credit: Photo provided by San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles
Last month, the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles celebrated its 45th anniversary. New Directions, the new exhibit created to mark the occasion, utilizes pieces from the museum’s archives as well as newly created works of art, and finally opened last week after an Omicron-related delay.
From a brazenly colorful floral-motif quilt created by an unknown artist in the late 19th century (and purchased in memoriam of museum founder Sylvia Moore), to painted cloth masks used during the pandemic, the exhibit showcases the museum collection’s stunning range while charting the evolution of textile art in America and the Bay Area.
“It was a collection of women who decided that quilts and textiles had a place in the art historical world, and that they were an art form that needed to be collected, preserved and cared for, for future generations to also have the same sort of care towards this art form,” says Shannon Knepper, the museum’s marketing director.
