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Quilt by UD alumna acquired by New Jersey museum
4:52 p.m., Sept. 15, 2006--Celebrated quilter Teresa Barkley, CHEP '78, recently sold one of her works to the Newark Museum, New Jersey's largest museum that includes 80 galleries of world-class art and interactive science and the Ballantine House Victorian mansion, a national historic landmark. The quilt, “Midtown Direct,” tells the story of Barkley's commute to work in Manhattan on New Jersey Transit trains. The quilt, which includes fabric from a Pennsylvania Railroad headrest and pieces of Pullman Co. towels, cleverly blends images portraying the entrance to the train tunnel under the Hudson River that connects New Jersey and Manhattan with an image of the World Trade Center, framed by strips of fabric to represent the electrical power lines that obstructed Barkley's view of the Twin Towers from the train. The quilt was first exhibited at the Newark Museum in June as part of the “Quilt Masterpieces: From Folk Art to Fine Art collection.” The exhibit coincided with the commemoration of the 10-year anniversary of the Midtown Direct train service, which links towns along New Jersey Transit's Morris and Essex lines with midtown Manhattan. Barkley designed the quilt before 9/11, but she put the project on hold for about two years while trying to find a way to proceed in a sensitive way with the image that is likely to evoke deep emotions and sadness. The quilt was one of several quilts on display last fall at UD's University Gallery in Old College. Barkley is holding a one-person show, “Teresa Barkley: A Life in Quilts,” at Towson University in Towson, Md., until Saturday, Oct. 7. The show of approximately 18 works, which is free and open to the public, is being held at the university's Center for the Arts Gallery. A reception will be held at the gallery from 7:30-9 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 21. The show will then travel to the Stamford Museum of Art and Nature in Connecticut. Barkley, who works as a pattern maker for a blouse manufacturer in New York City's fashion district, made her first quilt when she was 15. Three decades and more than 100 quilts later, Barkley has lost the actual count of her art, but not her love for the craft. Article by Martin Mbugua |
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