Today, the second of two spring exhibits opens for public viewing. This exhibit, the “Antique Quilt Show,” is part of the Indiana Heritage Quilt Show.
Wylie Director Carey Beam said Wylie acts as one of many venues for the annual Heritage Quilt Show, and their pieces come directly from the museum’s vast ?collection of antiques.
“Our exhibit is free and is open to those who are attending the Heritage Quilt Show, but also to the public,” Beam said. “We pull out (the) Wylie House Museum antique quilt collection. They are displayed on beds throughout the house.”
Tuesday, the first exhibit, “We Paint ... Heirlooms!” opened for public viewing. This show is a collection of paintings by members of the Bloomington Watercolor Society depicting different types of antique heirlooms.
According to Beam, this show started with an event last year in collaboration with the BWS, and she is thrilled they decided to reprise the show this year.
“The topic relates both directly and indirectly to Wylie House,” Beam said. “We have heirloom artifacts in the museum and in the heirloom gardens. Some of the artists painted heirlooms specifically from the museum and others just did heirlooms in general.”
Beam said she sees a lot of diversity in the work and being able to share in this experience with the society is well in line with the goals of Wylie, which is part of the IU ?Libraries system.
“Someone did an old barn down at Spring Mills State Park, so there’s a variety of themes,” Beam said. “It’s open through April, all of the paintings are for sale. It’s just a really nice outreach opportunity, a way for us to do something with a local ?community organization.”
BWS Show Chair Tricia Wente said the first show’s success inspired her to continue this partnership with the museum.
“We decided to have another exhibit, but one which would include subjects using plants we would grow from seeds from the Heirloom Seed Sale, or use images of interiors from the Wylie antique collection,” Wente said.
The 30 paintings made by 18 BWS members are for sale throughout the ?exhibition’s run.
Beam said people should pay a visit to the museum is the historical value of the house itself.
“You get to see this historic house and museum objects, but in addition, these beautiful pieces of art, both the watercolors and the antiques are really just wonderful examples of artisanship,” Beam said.
Beam said that In collaboration with the display of quilts, there will be a talk at 3 p.m. Friday, March 6 by the Indiana State Museum’s curator of social history, Mary Jane Teeters-Eichacker.
“We wanted to add an education or academic component to the exhibit,” Beam said. “We just started last fall to invite experts to talk about different topics related to 19th century life, both IU history and Indiana history as well as domestic history just in ?general.”
The final event of the first week is the Heirloom Seed Sale, which Beam said is a great opportunity to purchase chemical-free seeds that have been passed down from generations past.
The most fun part, ?according to Beam, is seeing new faces at the museum and introducing them to the beauty of the Wylie House.
“It’s just great to have so many visitors come through,” Beam said. “It’s really fun to have the local community come out in big groups. Lots of people come to visit the house, but we get visitors who want to come for the quilts or the paintings, then they get introduced to the house.”
Wente said she looks forward to seeing the unity between the paintings and pieces in Wylie.
“This has been a dream of a show,” Wente said. ”The works are varied, the artists are local, and the public needs to view this lovely local show of work by our own Bloomington-area ?watercolorists.”
