About the Great Lakes Quilt Center
First, a note about the MSU Museum…
The Michigan State University Museum, founded in 1857, is one of the oldest museums in the Midwest and is accredited by the American Association of Museums. "As Michigan's land-grant university museum, it is committed to understanding, interpreting, and respecting natural and cultural diversity. This commitment to society is met through education, exhibitions, research, and the building and stewardship of collections that focus on Michigan and its relationship to the Great Lakes, and the world beyond." In 1999, the MSU Museum was one of the lead organizations instrumental in founding the Center for Great Lakes Culture whose mission is to "identify, collect, study, interpret and disseminate the cultural history and expressions of the diverse peoples of the Great Lakes region."
The museum is a public steward for 2.5
million objects or specimens of cultural and natural history from around
the world. The museum's holdings of cultural collections and research,
exhibition, and education programs related to the Great Lakes are particularly
strong, especially in the area of archaeology, agricultural heritage,
and folklife. Its Michigan
Traditional Arts Program, begun in the early 1970s, is regularly cited
as one of the best in the nation. The Michigan Traditional Arts Research
Collection of objects, taped interviews, field notes, and photographs
relating to folklife provides the only major state resource on this subject
and includes materials from all of the surrounding states and provinces.
About the
center...
The Great Lakes Quilt Center
has evolved from the sustained and significant quilt-related activities
and resources at the Michigan State University Museum and the museum's
long-standing interest in and commitment to preserving and presenting
traditional arts history. The Michigan Quilt Project,
begun at the museum in 1984, not only spearheaded the documentation of
the state's quilting history, but also stimulated interest in strengthening
the museum's quilt collection, upgrading its care, and expanding its use.
In 2001 the museum and the Great Lakes Quilt Center became formally affiliated
with The Alliance
for American Quilts as a Regional Center for The Quilt. The Alliance
is a national organization established "to further the recognition
of quilts; to preserve the history of quilts and quiltmakers; and to establish
The Center for The Quilt, a place that actively communicates with people
about quilts and quilting."
Goals of the
Great Lakes Quilt Center...
The primary goals of the center are to:
record oral and written history documenting quilting and the personal histories of quiltmakers
Research Projects
Through fieldwork, archival
research, and a series of community Quilt Discovery Days, center staff
work with students and volunteers to locate, document, and collect information
and materials on quilts and quilters. For special projects, tape-recorded
interviews are conducted with quilters in their homes, and quilting activities,
such as auctions, exhibits, contests, and bees, are also documented.
The Great Lakes Quilt Save Our Stories project and Michigan Boxes Under
the Bed® projects (developed with The Alliance for American Quilts)
provide guilds with oral history training and short-term loans of equipment
and reference materials to record quilting stories and history in their
communities. With The
Alliance for American Quilts and the American
Quilt Study Group, the Michigan State University Museum was instrumental
in establishing H-QUILTS,
a moderated internet discussion forum whose purpose is to provide an exhgange
of information for individuals around the world engaged in quilting research
and documentation.
Frequently
Asked Questions About the Great Lakes Quilt Center (click
here)
Staff with day-to-day
full or part-time responsibilities for GLQC collections or activities
Michele Beltran, Coordinator,
Traveling Exhibits
Beth Donaldson, Collections Assistant, Data Integrity Specialist
Marsha MacDowell, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Art and Art History; Curator of Folk Arts
Justine Richardson, MATRIX, Associate Researcher
Lynne Swanson, Collections Manager, Cultural Collections
Pearl Yee Wong, Collections Coordinator
Mary Worrall, Assistant Curator
Lora Helou, Public Relations Coordinator
Staff with intermittent
responsibilities for GLQC collections or activities
Deborah Smith Pollard, Ph.D.,
Associate Professor, UM, and Adjunct Curator
Val Berryman, Curator of History
Susan Krouse, Ph.D., Curator of Great Lakes Ethnology
Betty MacDowell, Ph.D., Research Associate
LuAnne Kozma, Assistant Curator of Folk Arts
C. Kurt Dewhurst, Ph.D., Museum Director
John Beck, Ph.D., Adjunct Curator
Yvonne Lockwood, Ph.D., Curator of Folklife
Sally Helvenston, Ph.D., Adjunct Curator, Professor, Department of Human
Environment and Design
Mark Kornbluh, Ph.D., Professor of History, Director, MATRIX
Peter Knupfer, Ph.D., Associate Director, MATRIX
Kris Morrissey, Ph.D. Curator of Education and Interpretation
Judy Smyth, Educational Program Assistant
Julie Levy-Weston, Special Projects Coordinator
Juan Alvarez, Curator of Exhibitions
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