ARToberFest: Community Crazy Quilt with Susan Lenz

Title: Community Crazy Quilt with Susan Lenz
Date & Time: At ARToberFest, Saturday, October 7, 2023 10:30AM – 4:30PM

Come stitch with fiber artist Susan Lenz! Vintage household linens, lace, and other seemingly neglected old textiles will be hand-stitched together and made into a contemporary crazy quilt.  This activity is meant to give “second life” to the materials and also serve as an opportunity to share stories from ancestor stitchers and quilters.  No experience is needed. 

About Susan
Generally using needle and thread for self-expression, I work to address social, environmental, and cultural issues. I am also a storyteller whose work evokes past narratives with open-ended possibilities. I regard art-making as a conversation with viewers and catalyst for diverse dialogue. My immersive installations include a socioeconomic subtext, cleverly embedded in the space but related to waning memories and personal mortality. Through found objects, especially vintage garments, comes a powerful human presence full of silent longing and disappointment but also hope for humanity. I regularly indulge my passion for book arts and altering anonymous photographs. My artwork has appeared in national publications, juried exhibitions, and at fine craft shows including the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Smithsonian Craft Shows. I have been featured on art quilting television programs and on South Carolina ETV’s Palmetto Scene. My work is in the permanent collection of the Textile Museum in Washington, DC and the McKissick Museum.

This event is a Fall Multidisciplinary Residency Community Program. As part of a residency at BAC, we ask each artist to build and facilitate a Community Program. Community Programs are a unique opportunity for both artists-in-residence and our local community to gather, engage, and be in conversation with one another through art. Community Programs are free engagements open to the public and/or in collaboration with a local community partner.