International Quilt Study Center opening will be March 30

The grand opening of the new world-class International Quilt Study Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will be 1:30-4:30 p.m. March 30 at the center's new building at 33rd and Holdrege streets.

The glass and brick building, designed by the internationally renowned Robert A.M. Stern Architects of New York, will house the world's largest collection of more than 2,300 quilts and an international study center dedicated to the research, preservation and display of important quilts from cultures around the world. The $12 million facility nearing completion is privately funded through contributions to the University of Nebraska Foundation, including a lead gift from the Robert and Ardis James Foundation of Chappaqua, N.Y.

The facility makes a dramatic architectural statement to visitors entering East Campus at its gateway intersection.

In addition to the Ardis and Robert James Collection of antique and contemporary studio art quilts, the collection also includes the Cargo Collection of African American Quilts, and the Jonathan Holstein Collection, which includes the seminal Whitney Collection and an unparalleled group of Pennsylvania Amish quilts.

As part of the IQSC grand opening activities, famed quilter Nancy Crow will lecture on contemporary quilts at 4 p.m. in the Harding Center Auditorium located nearby.

The architects have designed an environmentally responsible building on track for silver-level certification in the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program, the nation's benchmark for high performance green buildings. Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture of Omaha is architect of record.

A Virtual Quilt Gallery will be available at both the IQSC and online at www.quiltstudy.org. It will provide multimedia, interactive experiences for visitors of all ages. Individuals may design a quilt, inspect details of quilts from the thousands of archived images and videotape their own quilt stories on topics including family memories, artistic inspiration, technical challenges and historical facts. These Web-based services will allow visitors to share their experiences via e-mail.

The museum contains three stories and 37,000 square feet and features a bowed facade of glass panels "stitched together" to create a large-scale pattern. It will contain public galleries and meeting spaces, work areas dedicated to research, and climate-controlled storage areas for the center's expanding collection.

The sequence for visitors is carefully orchestrated inside. A curved, stepped ramp runs the length of the east facade, gently leading visitors to the dramatically shaped second floor reception hall, a grand, light-filled space overlooking the landscaped plaza and the east campus beyond, while providing access to the three interconnected galleries.

The International Quilt Study Center was founded in 1997 when native Nebraskans Ardis and Robert James donated their collection of nearly 950 quilts to the university. It has since become the largest public collection of its kind. It holds more than 2,300 quilts, and its four major collections were last valued between $8 million and $9 million, said Patricia Crews, quilt center director.

A graduate program in textile history with an emphasis in quilt studies has been created at UNL; it is the only program of its kind in the world.

"Our program is unique," Crews said. "We encourage important quilt scholarship and nurture the appreciation of quilts as an art form while helping to reveal their cultural history. Our interdisciplinary program encourages the study and appreciation of quilts both as aesthetic objects and as cultural artifacts, celebrating their beauty and importance to social and economic history."

Before moving into its new home, the center was located in the Home Economics Building on the East Campus. Space was converted for the collection in 1997, but no gallery or dedicated work areas were prepared at that time. For more information about the International Quilt Study Center, visit www.quiltstudy.org.

CONTACTS: Maureen Ose, International Quilt Study Center, (402) 472-7232;

Lynne Grasz, Grasz Communications, (212) 873-5014