The Great Lakes Quilt Center is Michigan State University Museum’s center of quilt-related research, education, and exhibition activities. While the museum, established in 1855, has long held significant collections, its focus of activities on quilt scholarship and education began with the launch of the Michigan Quilt Project at the museum in 1984. The Michigan Quilt Project not only spearheaded the documentation of the state's quiltmaking history, but also stimulated interest in strengthening the museum's quilt collection, upgrading its care, and expanding its use. As of 2008, the Michigan Quilt Project has collected documentation on over 9000 quilts in the state and the collection of quilts numbers over 700 with significant examples from Michigan and the Great Lakes region, examples of quilts from numerous African countries, major ethnographic collections of Native American quilts and Michigan African American quilts, and special collections assembled by Kitty Clark Cole, Harriet Clarke, Merry and Albert Silber, Deborah Harding, and Betty Quarton Hoard. The MSU Museum also houses two important collections developed by pioneering American quilt historians Cuesta Benberry and Mary Schafer.
In partnership with MATRIX: Center for Humane Arts, Letters, and Social Sciences OnLine and the Alliance for American Quilts, the MSU Museum/Great Lakes Quilt Center has spearheaded the development of two major national projects. The multimedia Quilt Treasures Project develops “web portraits” built from video-taped oral history and supporting archival materials. These web portraits document the lives, work, and influence of leaders of the American quilt revival of the last quarter of the 20th century. The Quilt Index is a national digital repository of quilt and quilt-related collections in distributed physical repositories. The Quilt Index digitally preserves the collections and makes them accessible and searchable for research and teaching. The project was beta-tested with the collections of the MSU Museum and, as of 2008, the repository holds over 18000 quilts from nine collections. By the end of 2010, another twelve collections will be added and plans are underway for the addition of scores more.
According to the GLQC website, the primary goals of the center are to:
Record written and oral history documenting quilting and the personal histories of quiltmakersExpand and maintain a research collection of information on Great Lakes quiltingInitiate educational and exhibition programs to bring quilting history to a wider audienceIncrease awareness of textile conservation issues and support preservation efforts of endangered textilesIdentify and recognize quilters and quilting traditions from diverse regional, social, economic, and ethnic backgroundsHonor outstanding individual quilters and quilt groups through the Michigan Heritage Awards and other programsSupport the continuation of traditional quilting styles and practices through the Michigan Traditional Arts Apprenticeship ProgramPublish information on Great Lakes quilts, quilters, and quiltingThe Great Lakes Quilt Center is home to several distinct quilt and textile collections. These include:
Michigan African American Quilt CollectionThe Clarke Family Quilt CollectionKitty Clark Cole Quilt CollectionDurkee-Blakeslee-Quarton-Hoard Family Quilt CollectionThe Deborah Harding Redwork CollectionInternational Textile CollectionMichigan QuiltsNorth American Indian and Native Hawaiian Quilt CollectionMerry and Albert Silber Quilt CollectionCuesta Benberry African and African-American Quilt and Quilt Ephemera CollectionQuilts from MSU Museum Collections, Battle Creek, MI, 1987New Donations to the MSU Museum’s Quilts Collections, MSUM, 1987Stories in Thread: Hmong Pictorial Embroidery, MSUM, 1987Quilts in the Classroom, MSUM, 1987Michigan Quilts: 150 Years of a Textile Tradition, MSUM, 1987Michigan Quilts: 150 Years of a Textile Tradition, Kresge Art Museum, 1987Michigan Quilts: 150 Years of a Textile Tradition, Michigan Historical Museum, 1987Quilts from the Merry and Albert Silber Collection, MSUM, 1988Michigan Quilts, Chicago Hilton, 1989Quilts of Rosie Wilkins: Improvisational Quiltmaking in the African-American Tradition, Michigan Women’s Historical Center, 1989The Names Quilt Project Quilt: Traditions in Needlework in Social Change and Public Memorials, MSUM, 1990African-American Quiltmaking Traditions in Michigan, MSUM, 1991Quilts from the Michigan State University Museum Collection, Muskegon Museum of Art, 1992A Family Legacy: Quilts from the Clarke Collection, MSUM, 1993Native Quilts and Quilters: A National Gathering, MSUM, 1996To Honor and Comfort: Native Quilting Traditions, 1998Native Quilts from the Michigan State University Museum Collection, Petoskey, MI, 1998Native American Quilts from the Southwest: Tradition, Creativity and Inspiration, Institute for American Indian Art, Santa Fe, NM, 1998Great Lakes Native Quilting, MSUM, 1999American Quilt Study Group’s Seminar exhibits, MSUM, 1999Oklahoma Quilt (memorial to the bombing), MSU Ad Building, 2000Michigan Quilt Project: New Discoveries, MSUM, 2001The Mary Schafer: A Legacy of Quilt History, MSUM, 2001Quilts from the MSU Museum, Novi, MI, 2001Great Lakes, Great Quilts, contest winners various venues, 2002American Quilts from the Michigan State University Museum, Japan, 2003Quilts Old and New: Reproductions from the Great Lakes Quilt Center, MSUM, 2003Weavings of War: Fabrics of Memory, MSUM, 2006Redwork: A Textile Tradition in America, MSUM, 2006Quilts and Human Rights, MSUM, 2008The following exhibitions were organized by the Great Lakes Quilt Center:
To Honor and Comfort: Native Quilting TraditionsGreat Lakes Native QuiltingMichigan Quilt Project BlocksThe Mary Schafer Collection: A Legacy of Quilt HistoryQuilts Old and New: Reproductions from the Great Lakes Quilt CenterQuilting Sisters: African-American Quiltmaking in MichiganTo Honor and Comfort: Native Quilting Traditions (virtual version/Michigan State University Museum)The Mary Schafer Collection: A Legacy of Quilt History (virtual)Mary Schafer: Quilter, Quilt Collector, and Quilt Historian (virtual)Quilt Treasures: Presenting Mary Schafer (virtual)Redwork: A Textile Tradition in America (virtual)Quilts and Human Rights (virtual)Weavings of War (virtual)Projects directed by the Great Lakes Quilt Center include:
Michigan Quilt Project, a project that seeks to document significant quilts made or owned in MichiganQuilt IndexH-Quilts, a scholarly discussion list devoted to quilt history and other significant topics in quiltingGreat Lakes Folk Festival, a three-day festival held in August of each year in East Lansing, Michigan that features traditional music, arts, and foods significant to the Great Lakes regionGLQC Projects associated with the Alliance for American Quilts include:
Michigan "Quilters Save Our Stories"Michigan Boxes Under the BedQuilt TreasuresMacDowell, Marsha. (Ed.) African American Quiltmaking in Michigan. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press, 1997.MacDowell, Marsha (Ed.). American Quilts from Michigan State University Museum. Tokyo: Kokusai Art, 2003.MacDowell, Marsha. (Ed.) Great Lakes, Great Quilts. Lafayette, Calif. : C&T Pub., 2001.MacDowell, Marsha and Ruth D. Fitzgerald (Eds). Michigan Quilts: 150 Years of a Textile Tradition. East Lansing, Mich.: Michigan State University Museum, 1987.MacDowell, Marsha. Stories in Thread: Hmong Pictorial Embroidery. East Lansing, Mich.: Michigan Traditional Arts Program, Folk Arts Division, Michigan State University Museum, 1989.MacDowell, Marsha and C. Kurt Dewhurst (Eds.). To Honor and Comfort: Native Quilting Traditions. Santa Fe, New Mexico: Museum of New Mexico Press, 1997.Marston, Gwen and Joe Cunningham. Mary Schafer and Her Quilts. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Museum, 1990.Marston, Gwen. Q is for Quilt: An ABC Quilt Pattern Book. East Lansing, Mich.: Michigan State University Museum, 1987.
