The Carnegie Center for Art and History in New Albany, Indiana is pleased to announce the opening of the 5th annual “Form, Not Function: Quilt Art at the Carnegie” exhibit.

This national juried show of contemporary quilt art features works by 42 artists from across the United States. The show was juried by River City Fiber Artists, the group of award-winning local fiber artists Pat DaRif, Kathleen Loomis, Marti Plager, Joanne Weis, Valerie White and Juanita Yeager.  Cash awards for Best in Show and Merit will be determined by judge Jane Burch Cochran, a well-known quilt artist residing in Rabbit Hash, KY. 

“Form, Not Function: Quilt Art at the Carnegie” will be on display January 11 through March 1, 2008. 

The 2008 winners are:
(click on images for larger photo)

Katherine K. Allen, Ft. Lauderdale, FL           
Astrid Hilger Bennett, Iowa City, IA
Peggy Brown, Nashville, TN                       
Gerrie Congdon, Portland, OR                         Marilyn Gillis, Shelburne, VT
Leslie Hall, Longboat Key, FL
Terry Jarrard-Dimond, Clemson, SC
Marina Kamenskaya, Wauconda, IL
Pat Kumicich, Naples, FL
Marilyn League, Memphis, TN
Eleanor McCain, Shalimar, FL
Jae McDonald, Eugene, OR
Carol L. Myers, Indianapolis, IN
B.J. Parady, Hamilton, IL
Carol A. Pollard, Mantua, OH
Leslie Joan Riley, Skokie, IL
Barbara Schneider, Woodstock, IL
Janet Steadman, Langley, WA
Carol Taylor, Pittsford, NY
Maggie Weiss, Evanston, IL
Sally Zehrung, Eugene, OR

There will be an opening reception for this exhibit on Friday, January 11 from 6-8 pm.  While exploring the galleries visitors can enjoy refreshments, live jazz and a chance to meet many of the artists featured in this show.  This event is free and the public is invited to attend.  This exhibit is sponsored by the Carnegie Center, Inc.

Judge Jane Burch Cochran has been creating art quilts since 1978 when she started making small bead and fabric collages using painted canvas and her father’s neckties.  Jane made her first large quilt in 1985, and since then she has been, in her words, “completely obsessed with making art quilts.”  In 2004, she was commissioned by the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, OH to create 7’ x 10’ piece, titled “Crossing to Freedom,” that now hangs at the Group Entrance to the Freedom Center.  Her work has been widely exhibited, including an exhibit titled “Contemporary American Quilts” that traveled in England and Ireland, a 2001 retrospective at the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, and the exhibit “30 Distinguished Quilt Artists of the World” at the Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival in Japan.  Jane’s quilts grace a number of collections both near and far, among them Delta Airlines in Atlanta, GA; Cotton Field Company, Ltd. in Tokyo, Japan; and Louisville Gas and Electric Company, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Brown Forman Distillery, all of Louisville, KY.  Jane says, “In my art quilts, I try to combine my art training in painting, my love of fabric and the tradition of American quilting. I unconsciously combine the loose, free feeling of abstract painting with the time-consuming and controlled techniques of sewing and beading.”  To learn more about Jane and see images of her work, visit www.janeburchcochran.com.