WKU News

Kaleidoscope: Kentucky Museum Quilts will open Jan. 22 at the Kentucky Museum on WKU’s Bowling Green campus.

Featuring 30 quilts, Kaleidoscope showcases little seen or never seen quilts from the Kentucky Museum's nationally significant collection. Made between 1840 and the mid-1990s, these textiles illustrate many of the quiltmaking techniques and patterns represented in the collection and were made by quiltmakers from 13 counties across Kentucky.

One of the highlights of the exhibition is the first public display in Bowling Green of the circa 1880 Kentucky Sun Quilt, (pictured at left in the photo above) which was the symbol of the Kentucky Quilt Project's landmark exhibit and book, Kentucky Quilts: 1800-1900. As part of the project, The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service organized a worldwide 11-city tour of the exhibit, including the Kentucky Sun Quilt, that opened in July 1983 in Trinity College, Dublin.

“We are very excited to continue the museum’s long tradition of celebrating and sharing traditional regionally-produced textiles with our community,” said Kentucky Museum Director Brent Bjorkman. “We remain grateful to our local funders who took such a personal interest in helping us add this well-regarded quilt to our collection.”

The acquisition of this remarkable textile was made possible by the generosity of the Board of the Kentucky Quilt Project and monetary contributions from the Board of the Kentucky Heritage Quilt Society, KHQS members, the Ridley Group of Wells Fargo Group and additional private citizens. 

For information, visit the Kentucky Museum website at https://www.wku.edu/kentuckymuseum/

Contact: Sandy Staebell, (270) 745-6260