Hard Truths on Soft Surfaces: Fifty Years of United States Story Quilts (1975–2025)
Catherine Kate Mellina
Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice
About this Item
- Title
- Hard Truths on Soft Surfaces: Fifty Years of United States Story Quilts (1975–2025)
- Contributor Names
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Mellina, Catherine Kate (Author)
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Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York. Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice (Degree granting institution)
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Lee, Summer Anne (Thesis advisor)
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Davidson, Hilary (Thesis advisor)
- Date
- 2026
- Degree Information
- M.A. Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York 2026
- Department: Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice
- Advisors: Summer Anne Lee; Hilary Davidson
- Committee members: Brooke Carlson
- Abstract
- In the past fifty years, the United States has seen a significant growth in the popularity of art quilts—quilts that don't follow traditional piecing and stitching patterns and that employ such unconventional mediums as paint, print, photography, and found-object assemblage. These experiments have led to a rich new treasury of "story quilts"—a pictorial subcategory of art quilts that addresses personal and universal themes with a mixture of directness, humor, caring, alarm, and hope.This qualifying paper contains a detailed project plan for a proposed exhibition called Hard Truths on Soft Surfaces: Fifty Years of United States Story Quilts (1975–2025), built around fifty-six of these affecting and innovative works. The quilts are divided into three interrelated themes ("The Personal," "The Societal," and "The Planetary"), and each object is accompanied by a proposed wall label and tombstone text. It is designed for implementation in New York City's Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), whose complementary mission is "to collect, display, and interpret objects that document contemporary and historic innovation in craft, art, and design."Supporting materials include an overview of art quilt and story quilt history, an object checklist, and a mapping of the quilts to MAD's fifth-floor exhibition space. Additional components include suggested public programming, artist and community outreach opportunities, and an exhibition catalog proposal.
- Keyword
- Textile research
- Social research
- Womens studies
- Contemporary quilts
- Narrative quilts
- Quilt exhibition
- Story quilts
- Rights
- In Copyright
- The copyright for this work is held by its author/creator(s). Usage of this material beyond what is permitted by copyright law must first be cleared with the rights-holder(s). This work has been made available online by the Fashion Institute of Technology Gladys Marcus Library strictly for research and educational purposes. If you are the copyright holder for this work and have any objections to this work being made available online, please notify us immediately at [email protected].
- This item must not be sold to any third party vendors.
- Identifier
- FIT Repository ID: etd_001052
- URN: ISBN:9798252435855
- Related Materials
- Also available from ProQuest
- Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 87-12
- Masters Abstracts International
- Language
- English
- Publisher
- Ann Arbor : ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
Citation
Mellina, C. K. (2026). Hard Truths on Soft Surfaces: Fifty Years of United States Story Quilts (1975–2025) [Master's thesis, Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York]. FIT Institutional Repository. https://institutionalrepository.fitnyc.edu/item/676602
Mellina, Catherine Kate. Hard Truths on Soft Surfaces: Fifty Years of United States Story Quilts (1975–2025). 2026. Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York, Master's thesis. FIT Institutional Repository, https://institutionalrepository.fitnyc.edu/item/676602
Mellina, Catherine Kate. "Hard Truths on Soft Surfaces: Fifty Years of United States Story Quilts (1975–2025)." Master's thesis, Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York, 2026. https://institutionalrepository.fitnyc.edu/item/676602