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Posted by: Meg Nicholas
In an attempt to inspire herself and others to finish handmade gifts for the holidays, Folklife Specialist Meg Nicholas takes readers on a quick tour of hand-crafted items documented in the Center’s field survey collections.
Posted in: Collection Highlight, Crafts, Folk Art, Material Culture, Quilts, Textile arts
Posted by: Nicole Saylor
The digital records collection of the AIDS Memorial Quilt--the largest folk arts project in history commemorating those lost to HIV/AIDS--was published on the Library of Congress' website on December 1 (World AIDS Day 2024). This milestone marks over ten years of collaboration between the American Folklife Center, the National AIDS Memorial (NAM), and the NAMES Project Foundation to preserve and steward the AIDS Memorial Quilt Records Collection. In this post, Nicole Saylor, Director of the American Folklife Center, recounts the history of this collaboration and the years of work that led to the online publication.
Posted in: AFC Events, AFC History, AIDS Memorial Quilt, Civil Rights, Folk Art, LGBTQ, Quilts, U.S. Congress
Posted by: Nicole Saylor
In June 2024, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi had a special viewing of the AIDS Memorial Quilt Records stewarded by the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. This post details Pelosi's visit to the Library, her previous work to advocate for the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, and the work American Folklife Center staff to steward these valuable collections.
Posted in: AIDS Memorial Quilt, Folk Art, LGBTQ, Quilts, U.S. Congress, Uncategorized
Posted by: Lisa Taylor
“From Conflict to Creativity: Veteran Artists Showcase” ~ June 28-30, 2022 Join the Veterans History Project (VHP) as we recognize Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS) Awareness Month with a three-day Veteran Artists Showcase focused on living with, managing and raising awareness of PTS and Military Sexual Trauma. Hosted in collaboration with Uniting US, this series of creative …
Posted in: Crafts, Disablity, Exhibits, Folk Art, Narratives, Oral History, Photographs, Poetry, Quilts, Storytelling, Textile arts, Textiles, Thomas Jefferson Building, Veterans History Project
Posted by: Michelle Stefano
“Now, this tablecloth,” Taissa Decyk says, “I was in a camp expecting my first child, who is now thirty-one, when I made this tablecloth.” In September 1979, Mrs. Taissa Decyk was interviewed in her Providence home about her extensive knowledge of Ukrainian embroidery traditions. Conducted by folklorist Geraldine Niva Johnson, the interview was for the …
Posted in: Caught My Eye, Clothing, Crafts, Material Culture, Oral History, Textile arts, Textiles, Ukrainian Americans
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
I recently stumbled on an interesting quilt from Maine as I was looking through collection items in the presentation Quilts and Quilting in America 1978-1996. Quilts are usually made to cover beds and keep warm. They have beautiful designs. Art quilts may be made for beds or made to hang on the wall and are …
Posted in: Folk Art, Quilts, Textile arts
Posted by: Stephen Winick
Note: the following is a guest post by Carl Fleischhauer, a former staff member who participated in many of AFC’s field projects in the 1970s and 1980s. This blog celebrates the life of Geraldine Niva Johnson, who passed away on November 16, 2016. Gerri was a folklorist who specialized in women’s crafts, especially woven rag …
Posted in: Fieldwork, Folk Art, Folklorists, Obituaries, Quilts, Textile arts