'The Quilted Conscience' opens Sept. 14 at quilt museum

The International Quilt Study Center and Museum at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will host the exhibition "The Quilted Conscience: Dreams and Memories" Sept. 14-Oct. 17.

The exhibition features a story quilt made by 16 Sudanese-American girls under the guidance of quiltmaker Peggie Hartwell, a founding member of the Women of Color Quilters Network. The girls use the American story-quilt form, a tradition of their new country, to share the tribal stories and customs of their families' old homeland with their multi-ethnic Nebraska neighbors.

The quilt was created as part of a joint endeavor between the Abbott Sisters Project, the Grand Island Public Schools and Grand Island quilters. The project was funded in part by the Nebraska Humanities Council. Other quilts on display will include those made in response by Peggie Hartwell and Grand Island quilters Kay Grimminger and Ruth Campbell.

Several of the Sudanese-American students will participate in a panel discussion led by John Sorensen, the director of the Abbott Sisters Project, at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 1. The museum will be open 5-7 p.m. Oct. 1 with free admission as part of Lincoln's First Friday Gallery Walk program. A pre-release screening of a rough-cut documentary film of the quilt project, being produced for Nebraska Educational Television, will follow the program.

The International Quilt Study Center and Museum is the home of the largest publicly held quilt collection in the world. Established in 1997, the center opened a new museum at 1523 N. 33rd St. [map] in 2008. The privately funded, environmentally sustainable museum houses more than 3,500 quilts, state-of-the-art research and storage space, and spacious galleries. The center's mission is to collect, preserve, study, exhibit, and promote discovery of quilts and quiltmaking traditions from many cultures, countries, and times.

Tour groups are welcome. Call (402) 472-6549 for tour information and scheduling. Free public guided tours are available on Wednesdays at 11 a.m. and Saturdays at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. For additional information, visit www.QuiltStudy.org.

The International Quilt Study Center is an academic program of the Department of Textiles, Clothing and Design in the UNL College of Education and Human Sciences.

WRITER: Maureen Ose