Wednesday, April 12, 2017

San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles

Gerre, our fabulous president, recently met with Amanda Rawson, SJMQT Deputy Director, and Anna Bagarov, SJMQT Marketing Manager, at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles.  I was invited to meet with them to talk about how the guild might become more involved in mutual projects and events.  They are both enthusiastic about the modern quilt movement. Check out our ideas (in italics) below.

Amanda will be speaking to us at our April meeting about opportunities to get involved with the upcoming Modern Quilt Guild exhibit as well as the museum's upcoming 40th anniversary.
Anna followed up with me to provide information to our guild.  Below is an excerpt of her email to Gerre.  This has been edited for clarity. Please take the time to check it out.
__________
Hello!
Yes, an amazing meeting. Great to meet you, Gerre.

Here are a few more links for you for your members. I hope we can schedule a day in April for me to meet everyone in your Guild.

It would be great to get an email sent out to your members:

The museum also has a Permanent Collection which includes over 1,000 textiles. They have quilts from the 1800s. They have just completed the first phase of digitally cataloging all of it!

Now more than ever, it is vital that we have the support of the fiber arts community for  museums such as SJMQT. In addition to sponsorship that Amanda described, simply going to the museum for its exhibits or going to events or shopping in the gift shop is a big help. Sharing our social media posts and telling your friends is great. Word of mouth is powerful.

As I said during our conversation, I am open to ideas to collaborate and support one another- and to create a space where we nurture fiber art. Fiber talks, workshops, a mixer, a showcasing of modern quilt political responses to the current political situation - I am all for it. We are always looking for volunteers. Or perhaps your members have children or family that want professional Museum experience for their resumes- there is so much opportunity here to learn and create good references. 

Our next installation week is April 18-20th.

If you know people that like to work with children- we have school tours and other activities for children. Passing on the art of quilting and the fiber arts is so important so that future generations support the art and the museums that preserve it through collections and exhibits.

The museum's 40th Anniversary is coming up
  • We are looking for artists for our Make and Take tables.
It would be great to get an email out to your members about this very important birthday. The Museum was begun to promote and protect the art of quilting.

Please encourage your members to follow us on Instagram: @SJMQT. We are so close to our goal of 1,000 follower by our 40th Anniversary Celebration.

Please let me know how we can support you and help you as well. I am open to all ideas as our missions are similar.

Hope to see you soon and have a lovely weekend!

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