|
AWARDS AND HONORS:
Used as publicity image for "America: From the Heart",
a spontaneous exhibit announced after the terrorist attacks
of Sept. 11, 2001. Featured in the Houston Chronicle,
Oct. 27, 2001, and in the 2001 International Quilt Festival
Show catalog, "The Quintessential Quilt", page 60.
One of 276 quilts featured in the "America:
From the Heart" exhibit at the International Quilt
Market and Festival, Houston, TX, Oct. 25-Nov.4, 2001.
A book featuring all the quilts shown in Houston was published by C&T Publishing. "America: From the Heart--Quilters Remember Sept. 11, 2001" has raised thousands of dollars for the "Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund". My quilt is shown on page 39.
"The Flame of Hope" was chosen as one of 130 quilts to go an a two-year international tour.
It was chosen as the publicity image for the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers, New York in late 2002, also for the publicity image for the Knoxville Museum of Art, Feb-April 2004.
My quilt was chosen as one of only 40 in the touring exhibit to go to the prestigious Dairy Barn Cultural Arts Center in Athens, Ohio in fall 2003.
|
|
ABOUT THE QUILT:
Artist Statement: In the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, I
was haunted by the faces of the victims' spouses, which I saw
on TV. Each was frantically clinging to hope,
hour after hour, day after day, waiting for news that her
husband was still alive.
At first their hope was strong, but gradually they had to
face the realization that their loved ones were among the
dead in the World Trade Center.
At that moment, dreams of the future went up in smoke.
The foundations of their lives fell away. The flame of
hope went out.
The image of this quilt came into my head Thursday, Sept. 13,
2001, while I was singing at my church's memorial service for
the victims of the terrorist attacks at the World Trade
Center and the Pentagon, and the highjacking of four
commercial jets.
I had seen two different women, widows from the World Trade
Center, on television shortly after the attack and couldn't
get them out of my mind. One woman was begging her husband to
come home, begging anyone who had seen him to call her.
Afterward, the newscaster said, 'The flame of hope is still
burning.' I formed a picture in my mind of the women's
hope burning like a candle."
As the days past and no survivors were found, I pictured
those women finally coming to the realization that their
husbands were not coming home. At that point, the flame
of hope went out.
My quilt features candles burning in front of the American
flag. Each successive candle gets gradually smaller, until
the last candle's flame goes out, and smoke rises.
I used various techniques to portray the message of sadness.
Instead of stars, tear-shaped beads were used on the flag. On
the back of the piece, fabric featuring grey smoky clouds was
used, to represent the smoke-filled sky over Manhattan.
--Amy Stewart Winsor
How the Exhibition and Touring Exhibition Started
On Friday, Sept. 14,2001, Karey Bresenhan, director of the International Quilt Festival and one of the founders of
the International Quilt Association, sent a private email to about
28 quilt artists and curators, asking our opinions about her
idea to sponsor a spontaneous exhibit of quilts based on the
aftermath of the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks. She noted that
this would be a huge undertaking, since the International
Quilt Festival was only six weeks away. Within a short
time, she had decided to go ahead with the exhibit, entitled, "America:
From the Heart".
She announced it on the QuiltArt email list on Sept. 20, 2001, resulting in the
submission of 276 quilts which were all made and delivered to Houston by October 24, 2001. The exhibit was intended to honor those who died in the
tragedy, and recognize the nation's grief, healing and
strength.
After that, Karey Bresenhan arranged for the quilts to be photographed and published in a book, "America: From the Heart--Quilters Remember Sept. 11, 2001" and for 130 selected quilts (including mine) to tour internationally for two and a half years.
Here is a sample of the many emails I have received about this quilt:
"I have just returned from Houston and like everyone else who saw the 911 quilts I was very moved, but yours was the one that moved me the most. I continuously found myself standing in front of it. I think that the thing that just tore at my heart during those days after Sept 11 were the family and friends looking for their missing loved ones. Your quilt captured that particular part of this tragedy in such a beautifully simple manner. Thank you."
Katy P.
|