"Water is Life" at the New England Quilt Museum

Joan Blade Johnson, a Hampton resident and fiber artist, will display her art quilt at the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, Massachusetts from February 15 - April 29 of this year.  She is one of 40 art quilters chosen to participate in the exhibition “Water is Life: Clean Water and Its Impact on the Lives of Women and Girls around the World,” which will be the featured exhibit at the Museum (http://nequiltmuseum.org/index.html) during this period.

                  Organized by the Rhode Island non-profit Quilt for Change (www.quiltforchange.org) and Rome, Italy-based American Exchange Rome, “Water is Life” highlights the importance of consistent access to clean water in the lives of millions of women around the world and brings attention to the many countries whose populations face a struggle for clean water on a daily basis.  Without clean water, millions of women are deprived of the opportunity to live, safe, healthy lives, to obtain an education, find jobs, care for their families, and contribute to their societies.  Water is Life was organized to help celebrate the United Nations’ annual “World Water Day,” which is commemorated every year March 22  in recognition of the importance of clean water to health, well-being and prosperity, especially for women and children.  Water is Life is the fifth quilt show to be displayed at UN headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, where diplomats, policy makers and thousands of visitors to the UN’s headquarters are exposed to the messages of concern and support for women’s empowerment embodied in these quilts. According to Allison Wilbur, Executive Director of Quilt for Change, participating quilters are artists who bring their subject matter to life through their talent and compassion. 

                  After its debut in Geneva, which was sponsored by the U.S. diplomatic mission to the United Nations, “Water is Life” traveled to Rome for exhibition at the Scuderie Aldobrandini in Frascati, Italy last September.  Crossing the Atlantic, the quilts were on display in Houston, Texas in November during the Houston International Quilt Festival, which welcomes more than 50,000 visitors.   Once the exhibition at the New England Quilt museum finishes, the quilts will tour at six major quilt shows across the country with the Mancuso Show Quilt Festivals (http://www.quiltfest.com).

                  For more information on the exhibit, visit www.quiltforchange.org, and on Facebook at Quilt for Change/Quilt Challenge or http://www.american-exchange-rome.org/usunquiltexhibit2016/.