My special and I are spending a few days in Washington, DC immersed in culture. Our first stop after getting off the plane was the Smithsonian American Art Museum. What a treat it was!
The Amish quilt exhibit entitled Pattern and Paradox: The Quilts of Amish Women is what lured us to make the trip, but once we were in the museum, we really enjoyed the Portrait Gallery and art by William H. Johnson in an exhibit entitled Fighters For Freedom: William H. Johnson Picturing Justice. There was so much to see and so little time. Luckily we will return later in our trip for a private reception to celebrate the Amish quilts and I will be able to absorb them again.
There are 50 quilts in the Pattern and Paradox exhibit, most from around 1932. Most were made by unknown quilters, Quilters, LABEL YOUR QUILTS! You never know where they may end up in the future and who wants to study them.
As for the Fighters for Freedom exhibit, there was just so much to see! I purchased the book, and I am looking forward to studying it when I return home.
Oprah and Beyoncé were favorites in the portrait gallery, but again, there was a lot to see. Barack and Michelle Obama were in the gallery having returned from their tour. We saw them in Atlanta at the High Museum of Art.
I highly recommend a trip to DC to explore the culture.
I wish I would have known I would have hooked you up with someone that would have host you especially. Both of my quilts are there at the Renwick Gallery. Harriet and Crescendo of Cloth.