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TRAVELING EXHIBITION - WWII Home Front Challenge Quilts
The battles of a war are fought on many fronts and take on many forms. The Home Front in World War II was paramount to the Allied victory. Here, the battles for production of necessary supplies and supporting fighting forces overseas through maintaining morale took on a great urgency. Current generations of Americans look back on this time as a period of great duty, scarcity, and selflessness. The year 2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II and what more appropriate way to celebrate than an exhibition featuring that history through the textile art of quilts.
This travelling exhibit is a result of the WWII Home Front Quilt Challenge, a juried competition and collaboration between San Francisco Bay Area quilting groups, arts organizations, history organizations, the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park, and the Rosie the Riveter Trust. Two calls for quilts went out in 2013 and 2014 to quilters on the West Coast and required small quilts, measuring 80 inches around the perimeter, focusing on civilian experiences of the American home front period.
The first group of quilts were shown at Voices in Cloth 2014, presented by East Bay Heritage Quilters held at the Craneway Pavilion (Richmond, California) in March 2014, followed by a three month exhibit at the Richmond Museum of History that included many period objects and documents from the museum’s permanent collection. The thirty quilts in the first call were so well received, a second call was made in spring 2014. The traveling exhibit will be comprised of quilts from both calls. Each pictorial quilt is exhibited with the story behind it in the artist’s own words, featured on the accompanying object labels. The hardships and opportunities of the WWII home front were experienced in various ways and that is reflected in the diversity of stories. Themes addressed in the quilts include rationing, victory gardens and domestic production, women working for the war effort, shipbuilding, family connections to the fighting force overseas, and the Japanese American internment experience.
This exhibit was on display at the Clarke Historical Museum from June 24-September 5, 2015. For more information, see the website at www.wwiihomefrontquilts.com.
This travelling exhibit is a result of the WWII Home Front Quilt Challenge, a juried competition and collaboration between San Francisco Bay Area quilting groups, arts organizations, history organizations, the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park, and the Rosie the Riveter Trust. Two calls for quilts went out in 2013 and 2014 to quilters on the West Coast and required small quilts, measuring 80 inches around the perimeter, focusing on civilian experiences of the American home front period.
The first group of quilts were shown at Voices in Cloth 2014, presented by East Bay Heritage Quilters held at the Craneway Pavilion (Richmond, California) in March 2014, followed by a three month exhibit at the Richmond Museum of History that included many period objects and documents from the museum’s permanent collection. The thirty quilts in the first call were so well received, a second call was made in spring 2014. The traveling exhibit will be comprised of quilts from both calls. Each pictorial quilt is exhibited with the story behind it in the artist’s own words, featured on the accompanying object labels. The hardships and opportunities of the WWII home front were experienced in various ways and that is reflected in the diversity of stories. Themes addressed in the quilts include rationing, victory gardens and domestic production, women working for the war effort, shipbuilding, family connections to the fighting force overseas, and the Japanese American internment experience.
This exhibit was on display at the Clarke Historical Museum from June 24-September 5, 2015. For more information, see the website at www.wwiihomefrontquilts.com.
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