I designed this exhibition with curator Jenn Swope and graphic designer, Eben Haines.

Fabric of a Nation traced the history of the United States through quilts from the 17th century to today, highlighting the many voices, personal narratives and perspectives expressed by their makers.

The exhibition was organized chronologically across seven thematic sections: Unseen Hands, Crafting a Nation, Conflict Without Resolution, Legacy of the Civil War, Quilt as Art, Modern Myths and Making a Difference.

To introduce the show, I created a large curved entry wall that presented three quilts—made by three women at different moments in American history—each interpreting the United States flag in its own way.

Because the exhibition presented parallel narratives though time, and a range of cultural representations, I had to consider how to display works of art whose stories belong in conversation but are aesthetically very different. Some spaces needed to feel intimate, others more open. Certain works straddled time and narrative. To create these fluctuating moments of conversation and visual comparison with a feeling of continuity and flow, I angled the walls to tilt and shape the path from one space to the next, and used color as an additional way to define and create space.

After a section addressing particularly difficult content, we created a reflection space. Along with books, poems and a communal journal, we installed a large, thick-pile carpet vertically on the wall. Visitors were invited to write or draw into the fibers, creating an ephemeral, tactile, and collaborative way to respond.