by Marilyn Stacey
Your tax dollars at work keeping art alive!
Today I delivered Artist Repertory Theatre’s Legacy Quilt to the Oregon Historical Society. OHS is thrilled to become the caretaker and protector of this vital, living part of Portland history.
The quilt was created in 1985 by 62 local quilting artists for ART’s production of Quilters directed by ART founder Rebecca Daniels. Mary Bywater Cross led the women who hand stitched the quilt and all of the quilt blocks used in the show.
ART produced the show no less than four times, and the Legacy Quilt has since traveled to be the centerpiece of many other productions nationwide. ART’s original cast included Vana O’Brien, Anne-Marie Endres, Nan Kelley, Marian Gaylord, Suellen Christianson, me, and the powerful, perfect mom, Gwynne Warner, along with musicians Michael Barnes and Melinda E Pittman, and stage manager Stephanie Mulligan.
Together we explored the private histories passed on from daughter to daughter through domestic art – a secret record of anonymous, rock solid people traveling the Oregon Trail:
The final quilting was done in just seven days at the home of Helen Grigg. Look closely to see the finely stitched names of the play, the author, the book on which it is based, the theater, the production dates and the names of all of the production crew and the actresses. It took real quilters to make the quilt that would help dramatize the lives of unsung American women on the frontier. (Helen Mershon, The Oregonian 1985)
Laced with nostalgia and romanticism, this offbeat musical about pioneer women in the West makes American domestic history into something personal, touching, and exciting. (Bob Hicks, The Oregonian 1985)
The nobility and openness that the director and cast added to these women’s travails raises the play above ideology to make a strongly human statement. (Bob Sitton, Willamette Week 1985)
These women express their hopes, dreams, passions, fears – and their incredible strength – with needles and thread. No whooping and hollering, just the quiet determination and inner strength that is the true heart of feminism. (Jonathan Nicholas, The Oregonian 1985)
I’m forever grateful to Becky Adams Daniels, OHS, Mary Cross, and all of my quilting sisters who were gracious enough to include me in this adventure. Thank you, everyone!
Take heart and don’t give up. ART IS OUR VOICE.
