Living with art quilts

by Cynthia Wenslow

Many serious art collectors acquire artwork as an investment, and it is then kept securely and properly stored, seeing the light of day only on special occasions or when it is out on loan to an exhibition. For art quilt collector John Walsh, that isn’t enough; he wants to live with the art quilts he collects.

“When I had my house in New Jersey, I also had a business. I would display about four quilts in my house, although I couldn’t display the largest ones,” says Walsh. “I would display another four or five in the office. That was fun because I wouldn’t display them in any room that had windows. Some offices had windows and some did not, and as offices were assigned, I would tell people: ‘You can have a window or you can have a quilt, but you can’t have both!’”

Avoiding exposure to light, especially ultraviolet (UV) light, is one of the most fundamental and repeated pieces of conservation advice given to collectors of fiber art. UV light causes textiles to degrade and bleaches the color from fabric. It’s impossible to reverse damage done by light exposure, and it’s cumulative. Although even household light fixtures of various types emit ultraviolet light, natural light is by far the most damaging source.

Walsh recently undertook a renovation of his vacation home in the Finger Lakes area of upstate New York with an eye to the display of his collection. The result is a stunning gallery space—with an entire wall of windows.

The wooded hillside property was purchased by Walsh’s grandfather some 80 years ago. What now serves as the house started life as the property’s wine cellar in 1854 and is nestled between a hillside and a glen where a creek tumbles down over cascades in a steep decline to a large waterfall and the lake far below.

The site naturally presented challenges during the expansion and renovation of the home. “This is a very difficult site,” Walsh says. “It’s just a small point of land where the rock walls fall off on both sides down to the surface of the water. I wanted to expand, but there’s very little room here and I didn’t want to ruin the site.”

Working with an architect, Walsh designed the expansion to honor the building’s historic features while

While it’s not practical for most collectors to embark on an extensive renovation or building project that includes UV-attenuating window installation, the following tips can help you mitigate the effects of light exposure on your art quilts.

• Avoid displaying art quilts in direct sunlight or under strong artificial light • Keep rooms with textiles on display as dark as practical • Use UV-filtering film on windows and light fixtures whenever possible • Use light filtering draperies and shades to cover windows • Rotate items from your collection for display so one particular art quilt isn’t receiving a majority of the light exposure

providing several renovated and new living areas and the gallery space. The result is warm and inviting.

Mindful of the varying needs of family members, both levels of the home have outside access and contain a kitchen, bedrooms, and living space. In the lower-level kitchen, a colorful orange and green horizontal art quilt by Terrie Mangat overlooks the space from the wall above the cabinets.

Early quilt acquisitions are displayed elsewhere throughout the home, set among family heirloom furniture, wonderfully textured artwork, and personal memorabilia. In one bedroom, Walsh points to his Boy Scout sash with merit badges carefully sewn on. “This was my first exposure to fiber art,” Walsh laughs.

The walls throughout the home are painted a uniform light yellow, combining with the wood floors, abundant natural light, and wooded views to create a feeling of serenity. Exposed original stone and brickwork are beautifully replicated in the newer sections of the building, while the decorative brackets under the eaves on the porch echo the ironwork on the footbridge over the adjacent glen.

The clear focal point of the home is the new gallery. Walsh even thought to include interior windows framing gallery views from adjoining living spaces on both stories of the west side of the house.

When entering the home on the second level, one steps past walls lined with framed family photographs and progresses onto an open walkway looking out over the 34-foot long by 24-foot wide by 21-foot high gallery. From this vantage point, the view of the art quilts is arresting.

Gallery view with works by Velda Newman, Terese Agnew, and Jan Myers-Newbury

“The space is specifically designed for viewing large art quilts,” Walsh says. “Until the addition was put on, I never got to see a lot of these at home.”

Directly opposite the walkway, the north wall of the gallery is comprised of 18-foot high windows framing a beautiful view of the glen and outdoor living areas. It is this wall upon which the art quilts are displayed. Carefully.

Conservator Lisa Goldberg works with Walsh and his collection. “Jack had this idea that he wanted to put quilts in front of these windows. We had many discussions about the light,” says Goldberg.

“The glass is all UV attenuating,” Walsh says. “We didn’t think that would be enough protection, so we installed a set of 10-foot wide by 18-foot high opaque shades which can be remotely raised and lowered with an iPad app.” These are blackout shades, so no light gets in.”

Suspended on the room side of the shades are pairs of cables which hold nine-foot long powder-coated metal bars, on which the art quilts hang. Like the shades, the cables securing the art quilts are raised and lowered remotely by the iPad app.

Walsh usually keeps the lower eight feet of the windows uncovered to reveal the view. The art quilts and shades are suspended above, protecting the textiles from the light. When you’re seated in the center of the gallery space, the art quilts seem far removed, but Walsh says, “If you want to see what a quilt looks like up close, you just lower it.”

Seeing the system in action is impressive. The art quilts are able to be moved independently of each other, and the shades and quilts can all be stopped precisely where desired.

Walsh manipulates the app on the iPad, and Cedar Waxwings at the AT&T Parking Lot by Terese Agnew smoothly descends to take center stage. Every detail of the threadwork can be examined and appreciated, until the art quilt is safely raised back to its protected aerie.

It’s a wonderful way to live with the collection.

Cynthia Wenslow is an artist, writer and curator based near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Contact her at cynthia@cynthiawenslow.com.

www.conservation-us.org

www.si.edu/mci

www.mnhs.org

above: Looking up from gallery floor with shades in normal position below: Gallery seating area with entry walkway above, with work by Joan Schulze