Today, I received some good news – – my piece “Hay Bale – Blue String” 2011 has been chosen to be part of the permanent collection at the Michigan State University Museum.    ( I was able to view all of the pieces in the traveling show at the SAQA meeting in Denver, Colorado May 2011 and was amazed by the variety and the beautiful execution of each piece.) .  . .   If you are interested in more of the details – here is most of the latest post from SAQA regarding the traveling Trunk Show – This is a Quilt!   . . “During the planning of this show SAQA arranged for 50 pieces to become part of the permanent collection at the Michigan State University Museum. Michael Solomon was responsible for selecting the pieces that will go to the Michigan State University Museum at the close of the traveling trunk show .  Michael Solomon wrote:  When Kris Sazaki first asked me to be the juror for a collection to go to the Michigan State University Museum, I willingly accepted, thinking it would be a piece of cake. After all, I had owned a fine art gallery in Sacramento for over 10 years, and I had certainly chosen art and artists for many gallery exhibits. I faced a slightly greater challenge with group shows as opposed to solo exhibits, but I felt I had a pretty good grasp of the contemporary painting and sculpture we exhibited. I have also juried shows outside of my gallery, as well as my own photography exhibits.

For the SAQA show, I came to realize that my mandate would limit and challenge me when I faced the prospect of selecting just 50 pieces out of 268 submissions. I have spent many hours in art museums around the world, I am an avid collector, and I have formulated some ideas as to what constitutes “great art.” While the quality of art may be subjective, great art is simply that which compels one to look at it, again and again and again. This is the truth, if not a truism. And that’s the reason museums full of art that visitors repeatedly visit, contain great art. I can’t stop looking at and admiring the art on my walls and pedestals; if I do, I end up replacing it with something better, and then repeat the process.

In jurying this show, I looked for aesthetic design, shapes, color, composition, texture, and subject matter. I am somewhat partial to figurative subject matter, so that may have affected my judgment in some respects. All of the work I viewed exhibited high artistic quality, and I found myself initially choosing way more than my allotment of 50. I then faced the agonizing task of deselecting many pieces I appreciated. In any event, I hope you enjoy my selections.”

Artists whose trunk show pieces were chosen to become part of the Michigan State University Museum’s permanent collection:

1.    Affolter, Regula     2.    Branjord, Sandra     3.    Bruvry, Patricia     4.    Carrigan, Sherry
5.    Chen, Yeu-Chiu     6.    Chuang, Huei-Lan   7.    Clover, Jette        8.    David-Cohen, Yael
9.    Drucker, Tamar     10.    Ecob, Aileyn          11.    Filatoff, Julie       12.    Fingal, Jamie
13.    Fitzsimmons, Micaela     14.    Fricke, Rebecca     15.    Henry, Susan Elaine
16.  Horne, Connie  17.    Huang, Ming-Mei   18.    Jensen, Jill    19.    Jurgenson, Jean Renli
20.    Lachman, Mary F.    21.    Law, Catharina Breedyk    22.    Limmer, Andrea
23.    Lin, Hsin-Chen     24.    Lin, Mei-Mu     25.    McClean, Sarah Louise
26.    McLaughlin, Linda   27.    Milholen, Vivian     28.    Miller, Linda    29.    Ortelle, Cathy
30.    Owoc, Pat    31.    Pal, Mary     32.    Phillips, Margaret A.    33.    Pixeladies
34.    Puetz, Casey     35.    Read, Priscilla     36.    Robertson, Ruan     37.    Robertus, Linda
38.    Rushbrooke, Rose     39.    Simpson, Gayle     40.    Smith, Catherine Whall
41.    Smith, Lura Schwarz   42.    Stegmiller, Terri    43.    Stoltz, Heather G.                      44.    Tateo, Tiziana     45. Themel, Kate    46.  Thomas, Rosalind  47.  Tunnell, Karen Reese
48.    Wambaugh, Debbie    49.    Wanner , Dwayne    50.    Watler, Barbara