Current Exhibition and Upcoming Programs at the Lenawee County Historical Museum
The Lenawee County Historical Museum’s current exhibition features the fabric arts, and offers insight into stories from years past. For example a signature redwork on white quilt from 1896 features hand stitched names of family members from the Onsted area. The exhibition is titled Home Craft: Historic Quilts, Needlework, and Decorative Arts of Lenawee County and will be on display during regular museum hours through December of 2014. Local examples of crochet, tatting, lace, embroidery, cross stitch and quilts are featured.
The Museum is located at 110 E. Church Street in Adrian, MI and is open Tuesday – Friday from 10 am – 2 pm and Saturday from 10 am – 4 pm. There is no fee to visit the museum or the exhibition but donations are welcome.
Two programs have been schedule this summer in collaboration with this exhibition. Guests are highly encouraged to bring personal homemade items for discussion at both programs.
Thursday July 24 @ 7 pm in the Museum Auditorium
Beth Donaldson – Quilter, Author & Quilt Historian (MSU Museum’s Great Lakes Quilt Center)
Beth Donaldson has been working for MSU for sixteen years and is the Assistant Coordinator for the MSU Quilt Index. The Quilt Index is a project of Michigan State University Museum, and other organizations, to preserve images and stories about quilt artists, quilts, and quilting activities and to make this information searchable and freely accessible for research and education. The Index recently celebrated a tenth anniversary and houses tens of thousands of images and stories of artists and quilts from private and public collections around the world. Beth is also the author of Block by Block and Charm Quilts. She sponsors quilt retreats and ran a successful quilt shop pattern service.
This power point presentation uses quilts from the MSU Great Lakes Quilt Center to illustrate the history of the American quilt. By viewing quilts from the late 18th century to the present day, you will notice trends in color, fabric and style that can help the audience date the quilts in their own collections. Beth will bring quilts from her collection and the audience is encouraged to bring old quilts for a show and tell at the end of the lecture.
Thursday August 21 @ 7 pm in the Museum Auditorium
Fran Faile – Textile Conservator (The Henry Ford)
Hanging By A Thread: Caring For Vintage Textiles and Clothing
Fran Faile has been the Textile Conservator at The Henry Ford since 2000. She began her career as a long-term volunteer in the Textile Department of the Allentown (PA) Art Museum, and served there as interim Manager of the Textile Collection in the early 1990’s. She has maintained a private conservation practice since 1985, and works primarily for individual collectors and dealers. She specializes in flat textiles from all cultures, but samplers are a perennial favorite. In her work at The Henry Ford, she has managed the preparation and installation of artifacts for several textile exhibits, including “Vintage Couture” and “Quilting Genius I and II.”
This program will provide an overview of the work that the presenter does as a conservator–analyzing the problem, deciding what can be done to improve it without damage to a fragile artifact, what is and isn’t possible, and how to store and display safely. She will provide many photos of various types of textiles. She encourages people to bring one or two pieces for a show and tell discussion at the end of her presentation. She will also bring handouts and samples of materials that are safe to use in preservation.
For additional information please visit the Lenawee County Historical Museum website and Facebook page.
7/18/2014
Carol Souchock
carolsouchock@gmail.com
517-265-6071