Art is the Solution

Tumbling Blocks Quilt Source: MET Museum Today, I want to take a look at a type of art that I haven’t discussed on this blog before: quilts. Crafts like textiles and quilts are seldom seen as works of art because they tend to be common, household items and are usually produced by unknown artists who are—in essence—ordinary people. Quilts are also usually produced by women, who are traditionally overlooked and undervalued in the study and history of art. However, scholars are now beginning to understand the significance of quilts as artistic and cultural objects. Quilts in particular were traditionally a way for women—who were often confined to their homes and rarely allowed to be involved with formal artistic pursuits like painting or sculpting—to express themselves. This particular quilt, which uses a tumbling blocks pattern was created by seventeen-year-old Adeline Harris, of Rhode Island, in 1856. The intricate pattern uses hundreds of different pieces of fabric in dozens of differe...