Contemporary Art Quilts

Contemporary Art Quilts

Who: Universe City
What: Contemporary Art Quilts by Judy Elsley and Julie Nelson
When: October 1-16, Fridays: 5:00-8:00 pm, Saturdays: 1:00-6:00 pm
Opening Reception: Friday, October 1, 5:00-8:00 pm
Closing Night Art Talk and reception, Saturday, October 16, 6:30-8:00 pm
Where: Universe City, 2556 Washington Boulevard, Ogden

In conjunction with First Friday Art Stroll, Universe City opens "Contemporary Art Quilts" by Judy Elsley and Julie Nelson, Friday, October 1 from 5:00-8:00 PM. The show continues until October 16th, Fridays: 5:00-8:00 pm and Saturdays: 1:00-6:00 pm or by appointment. For appointments, call Benjamin Jennings, 801 458-8959. The show will conclude with an art talk and reception on October 16h, 6:30-8:00 pm. Light refreshment are available opening and closing nights.

Julie Nelson and Judy Elsley are quilt makers living in the Ogden area.  Both artisists design and make their own quilts, and they meet regularly for "play dates" to talk about their individual work and try out new techniques together.

Nelson uses a mix of commercial and hand-dyed fabrics, incorporating wood, metal and gourd shells into her work. Elsley's quilts are made from her own hand-dyed fabrics. Nelson machine and hand quilts her work, while Elsley often takes hers to a professional machine quilter.

Elsley says of their work, "We draw inspiration from each other, learn from each other, and we play well together. I admire Julie's creativity, her sense of color, and her beautiful quilts. We feel fortunate to have found each other and we enjoy collaborating."

In addition to being a quilt artist, Elsley is well-known quilt historian, as a researcher and author on the topic of quilts and their place in culture. She has taught a course, "Text and Textile: Teaching the Literature of Quilting," at Weber State University, where she is a Professor of English and also the Director of the Honors Program. The course familiarizes students with texts about quilts and quilters, ranging from such non-fiction as history, biography, and critical articles to a variety of fiction, including poetry, short stories, a quilt detective novel, children's books, and a play. Quilt texts are often connected with the textiles that inspired them so as well as reading, discussing and writing about these texts, students are invited to bring in a family quilt to "show and tell." As a final project, students make a small autobiographical quilt which they display and explain to an audience of family and friends.

For more information about this show, contact:
Judy Elsley, jelsley@weber.edu
or Benjamin Jennings, benjaminjennings@me.com