Wall Power! Spectacular Quilts from the American Folk Art Museum

October 17, 2026–January 10, 2027, Gallery 120

Quilts are America’s great art experiment: monumental compositions in color, pattern, geometry and representation, and traditionally, quilts are made mostly by women. The American Folk Art Museum has been at the forefront of the movement to bring recognition to quilts as a major art form with deep roots in American life and experience. Their collection is distinctive for highly individualized expressions in this medium that is both yielding and unforgiving, challenging the maker to test the limits imposed by cutting and piecing bits of fabric.

The quilts presented in this traveling exhibition are graphically striking examples that embody a sense of “wall power.” Packing a tough visual punch, the textiles hold space and defy the deceptive softness of their nature. Quilts on view range across time and place from the mid-nineteenth to the late twentieth century, from Alabama to Pennsylvania. The four sections of the exhibition highlight early twentieth-century quilts from a period of craft revival, designs developed by Amish communities, examples by African American makers, and traditional nineteenth-century patterns that formed a foundation for generations of quiltmakers to come.

In addition, a selection of American quilts from the DAI’s extensive textile collection will be presented to complement Wall Power!

Plan your visit to see these and other incredible works!

Featured Image: Leola Pettway (Boykin, Alabama,1929–2010), Star of Bethlehem with Satellite Stars Quilt (detail), 1991, Cotton and synthetics, 102 x 93 ½ in., Collection American Folk Art Museum, New York. Museum purchase made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, with matching funds from The Great American Quilt Festival 3, 1991.13.4. Photographer unidentified

Artist unidentified (Possibly Tennessee), Lozenge Quilt (detail), 1930s, Cotton, 79 ¾ X 77 ½ in., Collection American Folk Art Museum, New York Gift of Karen and Werner Gundersheimer, 2018.2.1 Photo by Gavin Ashworth

Artist unidentified (American), Baskets Quilt, 1930s, Cotton, 85 ¼ x 72 in., Collection American Folk Art Museum, New York. Gift of Karen and Werner Gundersheimer, 2018.2.16. Photo by Gavin Ashworth

Artist unidentified (American), Spider Web Quilt, 1920s, Cotton, 73 x 65 in., Collection American Folk Art Museum, New York. Gift of Karen and Werner Gundersheimer, 2018.2.14. Photo by Gavin Ashworth