Rocky Mount, N.C.—Ann Harwell has pushed the envelope of the quilting tradition to a level where her fabric constructions reflect her peerless precisionist craft and express her visionary genius. The Mims Gallery at NC Wesleyan College is pleased to announce the opening of an exhibition of seventeen of Harwell’s remarkable quilts. A free opening reception party for the artist will be held in the gallery from 7-9 p.m. Friday evening, March 26. This will be a chance for area quilters, art admirers, community families, and curiosity seekers to meet Ann Harwell and hear what she has to say about her very specialized work.

Harwell’s studio is at Raleigh’s Artspace on Davies Street, a fun place to visit for art lovers, especially First Fridays. There we find the carefully planned “anatomy” of her challenging pictorial fabric compositions of rare fabrics and modulated color in blues and reds fitted together in a complex “tesserae” of fabric shapes uniquely cut for each quilt. All this she stitches together on her “pet” 1945 Singer Featherweight sewing machine. Here in the Mims Gallery we see the outcome of her incredible fabric puzzles transformed into visually magnetic woodsy waterfalls, gothic church interiors and astronomical heavenly phenomena.

Ann Harwell has a long and impressive career as an artist with many exhibitions and awards. Quilting is a family tradition for her. She first learned from her grandmother as a child and has since built a long and impressive career as an artist with many exhibitions and awards. Throughout her professional years teaching preschool she quilted, and after retirement from teaching in 1997 she has made quilting a full-time pursuit.

Too many to mention them all, her exhibitions include the 2007 Sky’s the Limit, International Quilters Association National Tour and the 2008 Tear in the Fabric: Conceptually Driven Quilt Exhibit at Cal-Poly in San Luis Obispo, CA. Amongst her many prizes, a few highlights are the 2007 New Work Merit Award at Raleigh’s Artspace; 2005 Second Place Innovative International Quilt Association, Houston, Texas; 2003 Gold Award, Quilt Nihon, in Tokyo, Japan; 2000 Blue Ribbon & Best of Show, Raleigh Capital Area Quilters; 2004 Triangles Best at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Raleigh. Two of America’s most prestigious magazines have recognized and featured Harwell’s quilts: Folk Art Magazine, Summer 2002 and the National Geographic Society Magazine, April 1999.
The exhibition runs from March 26 until April 25 and the Mims Gallery is open to the public Monday through Friday, 9-5. Tours are welcomed by appointment: 252-985-5268. Ann Harwell’s quilts are for sale and will make a wonderful and appreciable addition to your home art collection.