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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNational Quilt Museum465 RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE DESIGNATION OF THE MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN QUIETER' S SOCIETY IN PADUCAH, KENTUCKY AS A "NATIONAL QUILT MUSEUM" ~~ WHEREAS, the Museum of the American Quitter's Society has national significance and ~~ . support, and WHEREAS, the Museum of the American Quitter's Society (MAQS) is the largest Quilt Museum in the United States and, in fact, the world. The Museum has the largest quilt exhibit space of any Quilt Museum, (13,400 sq. ft.) and has more than 100 quilts on exhibit year-round, and WHEREAS, quilts in the Museum's permanent collection are made by quitters from throughout the nation, from Maine to Florida and Pennsylvania to California having been made by quitters from 44 of the 50 US states and a number of foreign countries, and WHEREAS, the Museum, located in the center of the country and open to the public year- round, averages 40,000 visitors per year and tracks visitors' home areas through a Visitor Comment Book. During seven months from August 2005 through February 2006 (the slowest visitor season of the Museum), MAQS had visitors from a1150 states including Alaska, Hawaii, and the District of Columbia, and from more than 25 countries. Annually about 80% of the Museum's visitors come from throughout the nation, many others from across the world, and WHEREAS, the Museum's Friends, an organization supporting and sustaining the Museum, are also spread across the nation. Of the Museum's Friends, 84% live outside of a 60-mile radius of Paducah, Kentucky, where the Museum is located. There are Friends of the Museum in 48 of the 50 US states. Many of these national Friends have supported the Museum annually since the beginning of the Museum in 1991, and WHEREAS, the permanent quilt collection at the Museum of the American Quitter's Society is the only collection in the nation focusing primarily on contemporary quilts. The Museum is committed to "Honoring Today's Quitter," and WHEREAS, the Museum holds an average often to twelve different Quilt Exhibits per year with an average stay of two to three months. Quilts exhibited in the main gallery are from the Museum's permanent collection of award winning contemporary quilts made since 1980. Two additional galleries showcase a wide variety of exhibits with quilts from throughout the United States and also regularly includes International Quilt Exhibits. Exhibits are representative of the nation and its cultures featuring a wide diversity of themes and topics, quilts and quiltmakers. Exhibits range from contemporary, innovative, abstract designs, and art quilts, to traditional quilts, miniature quilts, and antique quilts. Exhibit themes range from "Quilts from the Heart of the Midwest," (made by quitters from 5 midwestern states) to "Canada Uncovered," quilts from every territory and province of Canada; from "School Block Challenge," quilts made by school children from ~_e~_nev~~y~ ...,-~rv.. ~ .._._.~ ;1....i~i.i~ai.._ ..:~.__r_ pie _.I ~l ~a~l~_~..uLi ~~ -::_: ~.:._ ~ i. _ ~...b ~~~_.i _ ~ I, 466 Kindergarten through high school, to "The Age of Comfort," antique quilts that connect the viewer with the past. An exhibit of "4 Guys and their Quilts," quilts made by men from Colorado, Kentucky, New Hampshire, and Montana, to "Baltimore Ladies," quilts made in the Baltimore Album style by three women who live in Arkansas, Ohio, and Washington, DC. Exhibits like "Lauren Camp's The Fabric of Jazz," (quilter from New Mexico) was a tribute to j azz and to the diversity of jazz musicians portraying Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong among others, while "Women's Work: The Paper Doll Quilts of Rebekka Siegel" (quilter from Kentucky) honored twelve significant American women of the 20~' century. Exhibit themes and quilters celebrate and represent the diversity of America, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE CITY OF PADUCAH, KENTUCKY: That the City of Paducah hereby supports the designation of the Museum of the American Quilter's Society in Paducah, Kentucky as a "National Quilt Museum." ATTEST: Tammara S. Brock, City Clerk Adopted by the Board of Commissioners, August 15, 2006 Recorded by Tammara S. Brock, City Clerk, August 15, 2006 -°~ ~,:.