Allentown, In The Valley, Press Release

Two summer art shows ending in Allentown

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SLEEP TIGHT! and ROOTS close September 12

Allentown, Pa. – Two special exhibitions inspired by the Allentown Art Museum’s own collection that highlight textiles from around the world and the roots of American design are ending on Sunday, September 12, 2021.

Japanese, Futon Cover, late 1800s, cotton plain weave with tsutsugaki (tubework resist dyed and painted decoration). Allentown Art Museum: purchase, gift of Kate Fowler Merle-Smith by Exchange, 1987 (1987.25)
Japanese, Futon Cover, late 1800s, cotton plain weave with tsutsugaki (tubework resist dyed and painted decoration). Allentown Art Museum: purchase, gift of Kate Fowler Merle-Smith by Exchange, 1987 (1987.25)

Sleep Tight! Bedcovers and Hangings from Around the World uses the bedroom as a starting place to tell stories about daily life, labor, kinship, and migration across four continents and four centuries. Historically, people invested hours in decorating bedcovers, bed tents, and bed curtains with designs that show family and community ties along with cultural identity. Their large scale demanded hours of work but also offered a canvas for remarkable creativity. Sleep Tight! brings together textile masterpieces such as embroidered suzanis from Central Asia, hand-painted Japanese futon covers, and Pennsylvania-German quilts to illuminate global traditions.

American, Shaker, (Mount Lebanon Community, New Lebanon, New York, organized 1787, disbanded 1947), Rocking Chair, 1840–1860, maple, hickory. Philadelphia Museum of Art: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Julius Zieget, 1963 (1963-160-30)
American, Shaker, (Mount Lebanon Community, New Lebanon, New York, organized 1787, disbanded 1947), Rocking Chair, 1840–1860, maple, hickory. Philadelphia Museum of Art: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Julius Zieget, 1963 (1963-160-30)

Roots: Sources for American Art and Design explores art from three groups: the Shakers, a religious sect; the quilters of Gee’s Bend, an African American community in Alabama; and Native American artists from the Sioux and Haida cultures. Here you will see their art displayed alongside other works that show the influence – and appropriation – of their traditions in American art and design. Along with textiles and a Will Barnet painting from the Allentown Art Museum’s collection are Native pieces from the Trout Gallery at Dickinson College and quilts, Shaker furniture, and sculpture from the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Roots is one in a series of American art exhibitions created through a multi-year, multi-institutional partnership formed by the Philadelphia Museum of Art as part of the Art Bridges + Terra Foundation Initiative.

Continuing on display on the second floor or the Museum is the exhibition Intuition & Reflection: The Ceramics of Toshiko Takaezu.

The galleries and Store of the Allentown Art Museum are open Thursday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission on Sundays is free to allow access for all. The Museum continues to follow certain COVID restrictions; to plan a visit go to AllentownArtMuseum.org.

The exhibition program at the Museum is supported through the generosity of the Bernard and Audrey Berman Foundation and the Leon C. and June W. Holt Endowment.

 

 

ABOUT THE ALLENTOWN ART MUSEUM

The Allentown Art Museum is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to use the arts and culture as a catalyst to drive interaction, experimentation, and social change for everyone. By collecting, preserving, studying, exhibiting, interpreting, and teaching visual art, the Museum enlightens, engages, energizes, and empowers people—transforming the community one person and one idea at a time. For more information please visit AllentownArtMuseum.org

 
Information and image provided to TVL by:
Chris Potash
Manager of Marketing and Public Relations
Allentown Art Museum