Quilts not so traditional

Sure, quilting of any kind is an art.

Art quilts, however, are a breed apart: a variation that more than blurs the line between fine art and fine craftsmanship. For many in the relatively new Uncommon Threads group (part of the Ozark Piecemakers Quilt Guild), fine art wins.

That is why members are excited their work is being shown at the Springfield Art Museum in "Uncommon Threads: Contemporary Art Quilts." The exhibit continues, along with "Yokes on the Trail of Tears," through June 4.

While they've been thrilled to exhibit several times in downtown spaces, including Hawthorn Galleries and the Creamery Arts Center, showing their work at Springfield Art Museum is a real coup, say several of the fiber artists.

"That's our first introduction to the public at large," says Donna Olson of Rogersville, a longtime docent at the museum who organized the exhibit with members Emmie Seaman of Stockton and Merrilee Tieche, who lives in Fremont Hills.

"It's our first chance to get something before the public who may not know what art quilts are," Olson says.

The museum tries to provide a variety of art to the viewing public, says its director, Jerry Berger.

"This is going to be a very interesting exhibit because they are not the type of quilts as we think of them," he says.

Contemporary art quilts are abstract, representational or figurative artistic expressions created with fiber rather than paint or drawing instruments. They cover walls, not beds, and might include dye, paint, paper, buttons, beads and photographs. Some are so finely assembled, they look like paintings from a distance.

One of Olson's quilts is titled "CAW: Crows at Work."

"I live in the woods and watch them a great deal," says Olson, who calls herself an amateur compared with some nationally exhibiting members of the group.

Seaman's latest works include a study of small quilts depicting tulips from her flower bed. She also shows her sense of humor with "Sweeping Beauty" — an image of a flower-circled vacuum cleaner. Her inspiration?

"I'd rather do art than housework," she says with a laugh. Fellow member Pam RuBert suggested she do a series of domestic icons.

RuBert is known for award-winning cartoonish quilts that reflect her stylized interpretation of everyday life. She was filmed by a PBS crew while making her latest quilt. Titled "Towers of Babble," it measures 85 by 55 inches and is her largest to date.

"It's about cell phones and how when you go downtown, everybody's on cell phones," she says of the piece that depicts numerous babblers, including a baby, a dog, a taxi driver and the quilt's central figure, PaMdora — RuBert's illustrated alter ego. Downtown elements she depicts include the Shrine Mosque, Mudhouse and Gailey's Breakfast Cafe.

Having an exhibit at the museum is an honor, says RuBert.

"It's a huge validation," she says. "Because, even nationally, there is still this thing where (people say) 'It's a quilt, it's not really art.' For us it's a huge thing."

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"Uncommon Threads: Contemporary Art Quilts" continues through June 4 at the Springfield Art Museum, 1111 E. Brookside Drive.

Featured artists: Lettie Blackburn, Emmie Seaman, Lucy Silliman, Merrilee Tieche, Susan Leslie Lumsden, Donna Olson, Pam RuBert, Arleta Johnson, Dianna Callahan, Diane Kelsay, Cathy Jeffery, Maureen Ashlock, Jean Rogers, Lily Kerns, Carol Bormann, Donna Fairbanks and Clyde Fairbanks.

Museum hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursday; and 1-5 p.m. Sunday. Call 837-5700.