The historic Wentworth Mine at Lucknow is set to be the backdrop for an outdoor exhibition of newly-created quilts.
The inaugural Airing of the Quilts and Gold Quilters Challenge will be held 7-8 March 2020.
To be run as part of Orange City Council's heritage program, organisers are now calling for entries in two categories :
- The Airing of the Quilts will feature works by individuals and groups and is an opportunity to showcase recent works.
- The Gold Quilters Challenge is aimed at encouraging quilt-makers to create a new quilt which reflects the theme of 'Gold', such as the gold mining history of the Wentworth Mine and Lucknow.
Orange mayor Cr Reg Kidd believes there will be strong interest in the exhibition.
DISPLAY: The historic Wentworth Mine at Lucknow will feature an outdoor exhibition of quilts.
"The tradition of making quilts has a long history which goes back way beyond the gold-mining era," Cr Reg Kidd said. "Domestic activities, especially those which are traditionally connected to the work of women are far too often neglected when it comes to understanding our history and our early settlement."
"The making of quilts showed thrift and artistic expression and persists as a way to link the past with the future".
""It's fantastic that the 'Airing of the Quilts' is going to be happening outdoors. It's common in the US and it's becoming more popular here to have outdoor exhibitions."
Orange City Council Services Committee chair, Cr Scott Munro says quilt-makers have until December to flag their entries.
"Organisers want to receive entry forms for both categories by 2 December," Cr Scott Murno said. "If their quilting project is not completed by then, they have a couple more months to finish it off."
"I'm looking forward to seeing the beauty of the quilts on-show, up against with the industrial backdrop of the Wentworth Mine."
"Quilting is a very popular branch of arts and crafts, and I'm sure we'll be getting entries from right across the region and further afield."
