Me, Myself and I
Handmade Quilts by
Creative Resident Dawn Williams Boyd + youth from Colfax Community Network
Thursday, May 22, 5:30 - 8:00
Exhibit continues through June 13
**Please bring non-perishable food items for a Colfax Community Network Food Drive taking place during the exhibit**
For the past six weeks PlatteForum has been buzzing with activity - not from sewing machines but from artists!
Creative Resident Dawn Williams Boyd has created a magnificent quilt during her intense six-week residency. Titled
"Quilting with Ms. Dawn," the six by ten foot hand-sewn quilt is comprised of a central figure, the artist, surrounded by the twelve children she worked with during her residency. Where her previous figurative quilt series
"The Things Kids Do" represent children in a variety of situations, the figures in
"Quilting with Ms. Dawn" are portraits of the actual children she worked with during the residency, capturing both their inner dreams as well as their exterior personalities. The result is profound and stunning: hand appliquéd, quilted, embroidered and embellished by hand.
Ms. Boyd's quilt is surrounded in the gallery by twelve colorful quilts made by kids, age 7 - 12, from
Colfax Community Network. Each youth quilt is a self-portrait, four by four feet, and entirely hand sewn, appliquéd, quilted and embroidered and embellished by hand. With Ms. Boyd in the lead, Mandie Birchem from Colfax Community Network guided the children through 19 workshops. This could not have been possible without the support of dozens of
adult volunteers. A field trip to see
Gee's Bend, The Architecture of the Quilt at DAM kicked off the residency. DAM Master Teacher Heather Nielsen took the youth through the exhibition sharing stories about the women and their history. Ms. Boyd built upon this history during the workshops as the kids created their own work, expressing their unique place in history. On June 5th he youth will meet some of the Gee's Bend quilt-makers during their visit to see the exhibition at DAM. Gee's Bend quilt-makers will visit the PF Gallery to meet Dawn and the youth to view their work.
Denver company BaggyShirts make reusable bags out of recycled men's shirts and donated scraps from their production to be used in the quilts.