Thursday, September 10, 2009

Phoenix Rising

Big Announcement! Jumped into this project now with both feet, so look out!

This is written in press release form (no, I am not that arrogant!); just easier to re-post than to try to explain it. For those of you who are not local, the Georgia Theatre is an Athens landmark. Many Athens bands got their start there, and many, many big names have played there over the years. The theatre was completely gutted by fire earlier this summer, and was under-insured. It must be re-built!

Please forward to your art-friends! AND your musician friends!

Georgia Theatre Art Quilt

It's no surprise that the music community of Athens has rallied in the support of its beloved Georgia Theatre in hopes of soon rebuilding it. They've done an admirable job in their fund-raising efforts.

Though Athens is widely known for its music scene, the world should also know that Athens has an impressive art scene as well!

Local artist Jennifer Schildknecht hopes to unite the music and art communities in order to generate more love and support for the Athens landmark.

“Musicians are not the only ones with fond memories of the Georgia Theatre! And they're by no means the only ones with a voice!”, says Jennifer.

She is extending a call to artists and musicians (as well as business and private individuals) locally and globally, inviting them to participate in creating an art quilt.

The finished quilt(s) will be auctioned at a later date to raise capital for the theatre rebuilding.

Jennifer, aka Moon Mama, describes the art quilt as “non-traditional” wall-hanging; in other words “this ain't your granny's quilt!”. Each block will be a work of art in and of itself, no sewing required; in fact, no fabric is required. Shown below are some sample blocks made by Jennifer, which include canvas, fabrics, hand-dyeing, yarns, embroidery floss, glue, ink, paint, rubber-stamping, cardboard, markers, charms, fiberfill, hand-stitching and machine-stitching.

“I would love to see at least 2 similar, if not identical blocks from each contributor, so that two quilts can be made---one to auction and one to give as a gift to the Georgia Theatre. I would love for the Theatre to have that outpouring of love displayed right there in the new building”. There is no limit to the number of blocks one can contribute. “If there are enough blocks, I would be thrilled to make yet another quilt, so that we could auction one locally AND one globally (perhaps on ebay.com), as well as donating one to the Theatre itself”, Jennifer explains.

The actual donation of the blocks will be commemorated as well. Jennifer's husband is Athens photographer Timothy Schildknecht, of Visual Artistry and Magic and the Fringe Collective. He plans to be on hand whenever blocks are handed over to Jennifer, keeping a photographic record of the entire undertaking. “We're open to making each donation from artist, band or business into an 'event'. Businesses should feel free to present their ideas for collaborating to us to make this even more of a community effort” say the Schildknechts.

All blocks should be turned in to Jennifer by Friday, October 23.

A date has not been set as of yet for the auction of the completed quilt, nor has a venue for the auction been selected.

There are only a handful of basic guidelines for creating a block for the wall-hanging--

Each block must be 12x12”, with a ½” space left along all four edges, allowing it to be sewn into the quilt.

Absolutely any media may be used as long as it doesn't interfere with the flat hanging of the quilt, or in other words, nothing overly heavy.

Free creative expression is encouraged, but no health codes should be violated!

The finished block should be signed by the creator(s) on the front, and include a card on the back with all contact information.

Watch for future announcements concerning the Phoenix Rising Georgia Theatre Art Quilt Project, or the posting of photos here---

Phoenix Rising Georgia Theatre Art Quilt Project page on Facebook

Jennifer's blog at www.MamaInTheMoon.blogspot.com

If you have questions about the project, or would like to participate, contact Jennifer Bond Schildknecht on Facebook, or at MoonMama61@aol.com, or at 706-540-2712



2 comments:

Songbird Mama said...

what a great idea.....if only I knew how to really quilt!

Unknown said...

No need to know how to for THIS quilt Ansley!
REALLY. Look closely at how I put some of those blocks together....some are paper and glue; some are hand stitched in the most childish, random way.
I plan to just paint one as well.
Just get creative with me!