Those with the Lake George Arts Project are pleased to host a Quilting in the Age of the Pandemic Courthouse Gallery Exhibition which is open for viewing through Saturday, October 29. A closing reception is set to take place in the gallery on Saturday, October 29 from 4  to 6 p.m.

The MICA Quilt Raffle Group originated in 2015 at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), founded by Fiber Art Department faculty member Susie Brandt. Brandt organized a weekly gathering of students, staff, faculty, and alumni to work together on quilts that were eventually raffled to help fund student scholarships at the college. In 2017, their group expanded to include members of the African American Quilters of Baltimore.

When the pandemic hit in March 2020, Brandt found herself teaching remotely from Lake Luzerne, NY.  That May she used the tools she’d learned teaching online to reassemble the group. She posted step by step tutorials and other resources on a website, and distributed materials and tools via USPS. Members mailed finished hand-stitched quilt blocks to Brandt in Lake Luzerne, where she assembled the quilts.

For two years the MICA Raffle Quilt Group met weekly on Zoom, where stitchers shared their works in progress, helpful hints, other related projects, as well as their joys and their sorrows. Word spread, and people from across the US joined, ranging in age from 10-82.

Work by MICA Quilt Raffle Group, Above: 2020 Viewfinder Part 1 , Work by MICA Quilt Group, hand and machine stitched story quilts, each 72” x 72”, 2021. Quilts assembled by Susie Brandt. Photo by Dan Meyers.

Since 2015 the number of participants has grown, as well as the project’s creative quilt work, and proceeds from their auctioned quilts have benefited many. Collectively 76 people made a total of 15 quilts – with two more in the works.  A selection of those quilts will be shown at Lake George Arts Project’s Courthouse Gallery from September 28 through October 29, 2022. View a checklist of works in the exhibition HERE.

View our Oct 5th recorded online talk with Susie Brandt and other participating artists in the MICA Quilt Group HERE.

Work by MICA Quilt Raffle Group, Above: 2020 Viewfinder Part 2, Work by MICA Quilt Group, hand and machine stitched story quilts, each 72” x 72”, 2021. Quilts assembled by Susie Brandt. Photo by Dan Meyers.

Through their determination to continue creative work as a group, the Raffle Quilt Project group continues to meet regularly.
Their work was recently featured in the Art Journal Bmore Art: Finding a Common Thread: MICA’s Quilt Club and in the Lake George Mirror: The Art of Conversation.

Here is a list of the all the participants to date:
Terri Ach, Beverly Ahern, Kibibi Ajunku, Dr. Denise Bailey-Jones, Kirra Barnes, Sarah Barnes, Sarah Black Sadler, Nina Bova, Anna Brackett, Susie Brandt, Ellen Burchenal, Karen Carroll, Erika Carruth, Rosa Chang, Finn Chlebowski, Suzanne Coley, Katie Commodore,  Clare Conteh-Morgan, Sharone Conteh-Morgan, Ann Marie Cordner, Kathy Cowan, Janine D’Adamo, Margaret D’Adamo, Malvina D’Alterio, Justin Darrow, Oletha DeVane, Andrea Dixon, Joann (Linda) Dixon, Rae Drotleff, Emma Fowler, Joan Freedman, Carol Frost, Patty Gallivan, Sophia Gentile, Will Grimm, Leighann Gross, Suzanne Hill, Tiffany Holmes, Rodette Jones, Jane Khattak, Sanzi Kermes, Dr. Leslie King Hammond, Robin King, Sarah Magida, Maia Malakoff, Joseph Malson,  Christine Manganaro, Talia Melcer, Kenya Miles, Hannah Moog, Drew Morse, Mahala Mrozek, Audrey Naiva, Maddie Olsen, Marla Parker, Gladys Perkins, Vanessa Perrigo, Ursula Populoh, Valeska Populoh, Betty Racicot, Julia Racicot, Ruben Reynolds, Glenda Richardson, Rosalind F Robinson, Gabriel Roethe, Linah Sedeek, Piper Shepard, Dr. Lowery Sims, Jan Stinchcomb, Tobyanne Suyemoto, Susan Tuberville, Cole Wade, Omalara Williams McCalister, and Lowell Zelenka

About the Ukrainian House Top quilt raffle:

The Ukrainian House Top quilt was made in 2022 to benefit the Adirondack Welcome Circle’s efforts to resettle Ukrainians displaced by war.  RAFFLE tickets are for sale for the duration of the exhibition. Purchase Raffle Tickets for the “Ukrainian House Top Quilt” from the MICA Store HERE. The quilt raffle winner will be announced at the close of the exhibition on the Lake George Arts Project website.

The Courthouse Gallery is located at the side entrance of the Old County Courthouse, corner of Canada and Lower Amherst Streets in Lake George, NY. During scheduled exhibitions dates our in-person office and gallery hours are Wednesday through Friday 12 to 5 p.m. and Saturday noon to 4 p.m.

For further information, please contact:

Laura Von Rosk, Gallery Director at (518) 323-5499 or laura@lakegeorgearts.org
Tanya Tobias-Tomis, Executive Director at (518) 832-0183 or tanya@lakegeorgearts.org

This exhibition is funded in part by the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York State Legislature; the Town and Village of Lake George; Price Chopper’s Golub Foundation; 518 Profiles; The Alfred Z Solomon Charitable Trust and LGAP members.

Photo at top: Lake George Arts Project website photo.