1 . HANDSTITCHED WORLDS: THE CARTOGRAPHY OF QUILTS

Quilts (床罩) are a narrative art; with themes that are political, spiritual, communal, or commemorative, they are infused with history and memory, mapping out intimate stories and legacies through a handcrafted language of design. Handstitched Worlds: The Cartography of Quilts is an invitation to read quilts as maps, tracing the paths of individual histories that illuminate larger historic events and cultural trends.

Spanning the nineteenth to twenty-first centuries, this insightful and engaging exhibition brings together 18 quilts from the collection of the American Folk Art Museum, New York, representing a range of materials, motifs, and techniques from traditional early-American quilts to more contemporary sculptural assemblages. The quilts in Handstitched Worlds show us how this too-often overlooked medium balances creativity with tradition, individuality with collective zeitgeist. Like a road map, these unique works offer a path to a deeper understanding of the American cultural fabric.

Number of Works:18 quilts

Organized by: American Folk Art Museum, New York

Approximate size:175-200 linear feet

Security: Moderate security

Participation Fee: Please inquire

Shipping: IA&A makes all arrangements; exhibitors pay outgoing shipping costs within the contiguous U.S.

Booking Period:12 weeks

Tour: June 2021—August2024

Contact: TravelingExhibitions@ArtsandArtists.org

Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI

June 12, 2021—August 29, 2021

Washington State Historical Society, Tacoma, WA

September 17, 2021—January 23, 2022

Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT

February 19, 2022—May 14, 2022

Fort Wayne Muesum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN

June 18, 2022—September 11, 2022

AVAILABLE

October 2022—January 2023

Dane G. Hansen Memorial Museum, Logan, KS

February 17,2023—May 14, 2023

AVAILABLE

June 2023—December 2023

Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, Laurel, MS

January 30, 2024—April 21, 2024

AVAILABLE

May 2024—August 2024

All tour dates can be customized to meet your scheduling needs. Please contact Traveling Exhibitions @ Artsand Artists.org for more information.

3 . At the end of my first year of high school, I realized I needed to find a summer job. I was tired of having to ask my parents for ________. I wanted to go to the shopping center or movies with friends without having to ask for $20 from my parents. I imagined having a job at a store or at a summer camp where I could play games with children. But what actually happened was ________. The only job I managed to find was cleaning up tables at a local restaurant.

At first, the idea of clearing tables upset me. The thought of getting up at dawn (黎明) to clean up after people made me ________ ever asking for a job. The first day was terribly ________. I was running around, racing to get a table ready for the waiting customers. I’ll never forget how ________ I felt that day, but I’ll also never forget sitting down for lunch with my co-workers for the first time. People of my age or ten years older all sat together and talked about their days. All of a sudden I was a part of that, and it felt good to be so ________.

I’ve now worked at the ________ for almost one year. I’ve learned to be happy about getting up so early, because I know there’re going to be a few good ________ every day there.

From starting there as a shy student, I’ve been able to grow into a person that can go up and ________ anyone, at work or anywhere else. I’m also not as sensitive (敏感的) as I used to be—getting an impolite customer might make me feel bad, but very soon I can laugh it off with my co-workers. The little job has given me so much, and I can’t wait to go back and continue to ________ from my experience.

5 . John lived in a beautiful home with his parents. One day, his father found him _________ and asked if something was wrong. John said sadly, “I have so many _________ in life, which cause me unhappy.”

John’s father patiently listened to him. Then he brought a bowl and placed a potato, an egg and some coffee beans (豆) in it. He asked John to _________ the things in the bowl, and tell what he felt about them. John described _________ he felt about each of them after touching.

The father smiled and asked John to place them all in three different bowls and pour _________ in them. He then boiled them all. After a few minutes, he father _________ the stove and put all the bowls on the counter to _________ them down.

Ten minutes later, John’s father let John touch them _________ and feel the egg, potato, and coffee beans. John had a _________ answer this time. And he said, the potato’s skin was easier to peel (剥皮) as it had turned very __________ , the egg had hardened, and there was a fresh pleasant coffee smell coming from the __________.

Hearing these words, his father __________ and told him how the potato, egg, and coffee beans reacted to unfavorable (相反的) __________ . The potato had become soft, the egg had turned very __________, and the coffee beans had changed their form __________ during their testing time in the boiling water.

6 . In recent times, it has become common for people to “cancel”, “block”, “delete” or “unfollow” each other on social media. It’s especially common when people are discussing political or social issues.

For example, in the US, there has been a lot of debate (辩论) in recent weeks over police’s cruel behavior. I know many people who have “lost” friends and family members online because they disagree with each other’s opinions on these issues. While some people will still try to argue with others, some have found it easier to simply cut off connection with those they disagree with.

I can understand why some people feel this way. I myself have unfollowed many people on social media for different reasons. It’s usually because they have posted ignorant, offensive (冒犯的) or rude things online. When I delete that kind of content from my social media circle, I needn’t see them any more, which makes me feel relieved (安心的) and calm. Also it entirely makes my online experience far less stressful.

On the other hand, I think it’s important for us to hear different views sometimes. When I discuss complicated (复杂的) topics with my friends, I might ask them a question in which I disagree with them and see how they defend their opinion. This teaches me how to defend my own thinking—as well as remind myself that everyone can be wrong about things from time to time.

7 . In the UK, there is a popular route (线路) for cyclists (bikers): the road from Land's End in England to John O’Groats in Scotland. The road is 874 miles long. It covers almost the full length of Great Britain. The 12-year-old boy named Laurence Chandler became the youngest cyclist to finish the route.

Chandler took 20 days to finish the challenge. Each day, he cycled between 40 to 60 miles. He spent six hours on his mountain bike daily. Chandler had to push through rainy and windy days. Cycling uphill was also hard.

“It was much harder than I thought. I didn’t expect so many hills and how busy the roads were,” Chandler said. “But if you put your mind to anything, then no matter how big, you can do it.”

Chandler first thought of trying the route when he read an article about it two years ago; Later, as his fther's50th birthday came around, he decided to go for it. He was already used to cycling around his village and to school before starting his journey.

During his ride, Chandler raised 600 pounds for Smile Train. Itis a children’s charity that pays for surgery for children in developing countries who have clef lips (兔唇).

10 . Everybody knows vegetables are necessary for us, but the difficulty in growing vegetables is more than you think. Many years ago I moved from the city to the country. One of the first things I did was to make a large vegetable garden. It was hard work to change the grassy area to a fine garden. Imagine how much work it must have been for the early pioneer families to break the native wilderness by hand. I planted a full garden that first year — everything from root vegetables like carrots and beets to green beans, com, tomatoes, zucchini, acorn squash, and melons. A root vegetable means that we eat the root of the plant that grows in the soil instead of the part that grows above the ground.

My best friends Fritz and Heidi, both German shepherd dogs, loved to play out in the country. They enjoyed discovering all the new places where rabbits and deer appeared. A garden was something new to the dogs. At gardening time Heidi preferred to go exploring but Fritz would stay close to me and help.

Once in a while I would find a cucumber (黄瓜) at the side of the garden with dog teeth marks in it. Who do you think tasted the cucumbers? Since Heidi didn’t stay near the garden, it must have been Fritz!

One day Fritz went into the garden. He sniffed among the leaves of the melon vines (藤) growing close to the ground. He had discovered ripe (成熟的) melons by their smell, fantastic! Knowing when melons are just right to pick is very hard for humans. But Fritz knew the exact right time to pick each melon in the garden. From then on, Fritz was my best garden helper even if he did sometimes eat the cucumbers.