Art Quilt Celebrates Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Champaign - A quilt commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is to be displayed at the Illinois Terminal in Champaign during the Boneyard Arts Festival, April 21-23.

On January 21, 2006, The University of Illinois presented "A Single Garment of Destiny: Our Common Threads" - a community event of song, dance, and art to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., held at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. This event was one of many activities held throughout the 2005-2006 academic year to honor Dr. King. Urbana artist, Deborah Fell, was commissioned to create an audience-participation commemorative art quilt. Community participation was great and the quilt reflects the diversity of that participation. More than 100 people contributed to the quilt, including children, parents, college students, and many others. Each of the nine quilt blocks focuses on a quote from Dr. King. The participants reacted to each quote by drawing, painting, or writing responses. These small painted canvas pieces were then added to the overall composition-creating 'our common threads' of humanity.

Deborah Fell is a studio artist committed to the art quilt medium. Deborah focuses on design using surface treatment such as dyeing and painting fabric. Over the years Deborah has obtained national recognition for her work. She was one of ten artists featured in a national juried Art Quilt Invitational. In conjunction, her art has been exhibited in venues such as the United Nations Building in New York City, the Civil Rights Museum, in Pakistan through the U.S. State Department Arts in Embassies Program, and the premier international exhibit Quilt National. Deborah says, "Art allows us to move from one place to the next. I do art because I believe art makes a difference in our world; it is a gift we give ourselves and it is a celebration of our very souls."