THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 7, 1994 TAG: 9410050131
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 03B EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARLENE FORD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
This weekend the coziest place in town might well be the Virginia Beach Center for the Arts. The Tidewater Quilters Guild is presenting its 15th annual show and sale, a colorful display of more than 100 hand-crafted quilts and quilted wall hangings, in the atrium exhibition of the center.
``Quilt Art - An American Tradition'' opens from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. today. It continues from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $4, the show pin is $5 and children under 12 are free.
``We've been doing this for 15 years because we think it's important to show the public who we are and what we do,'' said Abby Geddes of the quilters guild. ``Quilting is a very old art form, and it's also part of our American heritage.''
While the styles and execution are individual to the artists, pieced and appliqued works make up the two broad categories of the show. There is also an educational display demonstrating quilt embellishment, a special category for dolls and doll quilts, as well as a seminar by nationally known teacher, Kaye Wood.
Wood's ``Strip Quilting'' show appears regularly on public television. The seminar on her special technique, ``What's New in Strip Quilting,'' is 7 p.m. today and costs $10.
According to Geddes, the guild includes between 200 and 300 hundred members from Hampton Roads and North Carolina.
However, in addition to promoting the art form and its history, the quilters also are involved in various comforting and practical community projects. They make and donate crib quilts to the Candii House in Norfolk, which cares for children with AIDS, and they make and donate ``quillows,'' lap-size quilts that fold into pillows, for battered women shelters in Norfolk and Virginia Beach.
In addition to all the decorative as well as functional works on display for the weekend is a quilt with an even more unusual purpose. The ``Mammogram Quilt of Tidewater,'' an in-progress quilt created by six members of the guild, is a long-range, fund-raising effort. Businesses donating money to the quilt cause are recognized by having the image of their business card transferred onto the back of the quilt; the front is a log cabin design with a tree of life. The money contributed is then used to assist women financially unable to pay for their own mammograms. The goal is $3,000, and to date, $1,100 has been earned.
The show and sale is open to those just browsing. For those who want to take home a piece of ``Quilt Art - An American Tradition,'' purchases range from $20 items in the gift shop to spreads and wall hangings worth several hundred dollars.
For more information about the show and sale or the seminar, call Geddes at 474-2546.
VIRGINIA BEACH ARTISTS ELSEWHERE INCLUDE:
Playwright Edward Morgan. A new work by Morgan, ``The Last Ride of the Bold Calhouns,'' completes its run at the Norfolk Generic Theater Sunday. The musical saga of the old west premiered last year at the Milwaukee Rep, where it garnered rave reviews. Morgan's other produced plays include ``Jenny and the Bugman,'' ``Appalachian Voices,'' ``An Irish Reunion'' and ``The Salmon.''
For more information about this production, which is a fund-raiser for the newly independent theater, call 441-2160.
Artist Maria DeSantis. Her works are on exhibit at Olde Town Gallery, Portsmouth, through Oct. 31. For information, call 426-9115.
Young writers, Christina Brunn and Augusto M. Domingo. The local high school playwrights recently won awards for their efforts in a Theatre Virginia summer residency project. Christina's play is titled ``Free;'' Augusto's work is titled ``Filcher Fairway.''
THE FINAL CALL IS OUT for Virginia Beach Arts and Humanities grant applications. Funding is limited to non-profit, tax-exempt arts and humanities organizations that will present performances or projects in Virginia Beach between July 1, 1995 and June 30, 1996.
For more information, call Glenn Payne at 431-3733. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Pam Bechill, left to right, Holly Erdie-Zubel and Carol Gugal work
on a quilt to be raffled by the Tidewater Quilters Guild.
by CNB