Arts Outings
The Arts Initiative's Arts Outings happen throughout the academic year, and typically take the form of a performance or guided museum tour paired with a unique opportunity, such as a talk with the play’s creative team or live music in a gallery.
Events are open to current Columbia and Barnard students only on a first-come, first-served basis with limited capacity. Tickets purchased by non-students will be automatically refunded.
Event Format
Location
American Folk Art Museum
2 Lincoln Square
Columbus Ave. at W. 66th St.
New York, NY 10023
About The Exhibition
Events are open to current Columbia and Barnard students only on a first-come, first-served basis with limited capacity. Tickets purchased by non-students will be automatically refunded.
An Ecology of Quilts: The Natural History of American Textiles brings together approximately 30 examples, spanning the 18th to 20th centuries, from the Museum’s rich collection of more than 600 quilts and presents them from an ecological perspective, tracing patterns of relationships between the environment and traditional quilting practices.
This groundbreaking exploration of the natural history of American textiles proposes an eco-critical inquiry into the many facets of global material culture that emerged in the early American republic through the 20th century.
Looking beyond the quiltmaker, An Ecology of Quilts is centered around the origins of textile production and how it informs the artistry of quiltmaking, exploring the environmental and social impact of cultivating and harvesting raw materials; the networks of overland and ocean trade required to transport dyestuffs, fibers, and fabrics; and the technologies and industrial techniques developed to process them, such as the cotton gin—all of which allowed quiltmaking to flourish as a quintessential American art form.
As An Ecology of Quilts documents, textiles represent an intricately woven web of environmental resources, craft and scientific knowledge, global movement, and creative collaboration. Speaking not only to the work of individual American quilters but also to the contributions of countless artisans and laborers around the globe, quilts survive as powerful material metaphors for human relationships and entanglements within the natural world.
For more information, please visit the exhibition website.
Images (from left to right): Tree of Life Cut-Out Chintz Quilt, Probably Wiscasset, Maine / courtesy of American Folk Art Museum; American Folk Art Museum facade / courtesy of American Folk Art Museum