Art Quilts Maine: A Retrospective

January 31 – March 14, 2025

Opening Reception: TBA

The show features pieces by four Maine quilters Anne Walker, Rana O’Connor, Argenta Jeffrey and Celeste Poulin, spanning seven years of the group’s thematic challenges.

The artists are all members of Art Quilts Maine, a chapter of Pine Tree Quilts, which supports members in exploring contemporary quilt art, inspires creativity and individuality, and promotes the understanding, appreciation, and recognition of contemporary quilters in the state of Maine.

Each year since 2012, members of Art Quilts Maine have produced work in response to one or more themes. The resulting collection debuts at Maine Quilts, then tours the state for a year. Venues include libraries and galleries from Skowhegan to Cape Elizabeth. 

Unlike the usual touring exhibitions, however, the theme for this new show at L/A Arts is built around ongoing engagement with the creative challenge itself.

About the Exhibition

Curated from an open call to group members, this retrospective includes works inspired by several different challenges from 2017 through 2023. Themes represented in the exhibition include:

• Mixed Media Mashup (2017), which challenged artists to combine two or more visual art media in their works;
• Batik Challenge (2018), wherein artists included batik fabrics in their creations;
• On (or Off) the Beaten Path (2018), which asked artists to depict their interpretation of a path, trail, map, or walk from well-trod to rarely travelled;
• Page 20 (2019) in which artists were inspired by a page from a random magazine;
• Blue, Red and White (2019), for which artists were required to work with provided fabrics;
• Inspired by the Classics (2020), featuring contemplations on an artist who worked prior to 1900;
• Architexture (2021), which asked artists to take their ideas from any man-made structure;
• Mystery Progression (2021), for which artists were provided a “word of the month” to incorporate into their developing quilts;
• Quilts in the Abstract (2022), which challenged artists to fuse quilting techniques with abstract art;
• Creative Circles, Rings and Curves (2023) demonstrates the many ways these shapes add motion to a quilter’s composition;
• Tradition Re-Imagined (2023) asked artists to break the mold on a traditional quilt block.

Since 1973, LA Arts, the arts agency for the cities of Lewiston and Auburn Maine, has pursued a mission to engage and inspire a vibrant community through arts and culture. The agency works with governments, businesses, schools and local arts and cultural organizations to create opportunities for community members across the generations to experience, learn, and participate in the arts. LA Arts organizes arts programs and initiatives, supports the work of local artists and arts organizations, and highlights the essential role the arts play in shaping an economically vital, socially integrated, and forward-looking future for its community. Learn more at www.laarts.org.

Located at 168 Lisbon Street in Lewiston, the LA Arts Gallery presents six exhibitions throughout the year that reflect and honor the Twin Cities community. Exhibiting artists generally have ties to LA or to Maine. 

With each show, LA Arts aims to bring individuals and groups together to strengthen our community through shared experiences and deeper cultural understanding.

If you’re interested in volunteering at the Gallery or want to learn more about the space and upcoming exhibitions, please send us a message using the form below.