About Shelly :: Consultant
"Quilts
have continued to hold my interest over the past 25 years because I have
been able to work with them in a multitude of ways," says Shelly.
In other areas of
this website, you can learn about her lectures,
articles, and publications.
This area of the website outlines some of the more creative projects and services that Shelly has provided and could
offer to you.
Shelly's background as a fifteen-year board member of the Louisville Visual Art Association (Contemporary Art Center) gave her extensive knowledge of exhibition and collection issues, ranging from design to travel. Her experience in the art world as a collector has been invaluable while working with quilts in all venues - museums, corporate settings, etc.
Shelly can help you to bridge the gaps between the quilt world, the museum world, the art world and the business world. Her contacts in all areas, from those in the "how-to make quilts" community to academics make Shelly the "one stop shop" for your project.
Please click on the headers below to see the examples of Shelly's consulting projects:
TV and Films
"I have been hired by various groups who want to ensure that the material
written about quilts, for scripts and other applications is accurate.
Much of what has traditionally been written about quilts is mostly myth,
not fact. By hiring me to ensure the accuracy of the quilt information
and images, you can avoid public relations fiascoes like the one suffered
by a company that showed ladies at a quilting bee using knitting needles
to quilt."
Shelly has been a resource for Simply Quilts, HGTV, and Wisconsin Public Television among others. She provides information such as: who would make a good interview, who is credible in this enormous world of self proclaimed authorities, on what level are some of the "authorities" operating, is their expertise university level or grass roots and which do you want for this effort? She also provides assistance in navigating through the minefield of quilt politics (yes, it is political).
Product Promotion
"Recently, I was contacted by an international public relations firm wanting to have a quilt designed and made within a very short time frame for a special product launch. I was hired to 'make it happen,' 'make it good' and 'meet the deadline.' I located the designer and the maker. I coordinated the production, arranged the contracts, secured professional photography for the finished quilt, and assisted with the writing of public relations materials for the launch."
Books & Publications
Shelly was hired as the
sole consultant to work with both the publisher and author of Living with
Quilts, the Phyllis George Book. Her responsibilities included providing
the most accurate publications list from which the author could do her
research and writing within a given deadline.
Shelly also located most of the
collectors (many had been clients of hers) willing to lend quilts for
photography. She selected the majority of the extraordinary sites to be used
for the page settings as well as worked with the writer to choose a broad variety
of quilts, so that the 700 word essays that the author had to write about each one
would not send her "over the edge" with nothing original left to say by
quilt number ten.
Collection Development
Shelly works with a number
of banks, hospitals, airports, universities and private collectors to
develop collections of quilts. From choosing a theme, to locating the
quilts, advising on hanging, writing necessary wall and catalogue text,
she actively involved in each project.
Her own personal collection has
recently been acquired by The
Art Institute of Chicago. An exhibition including all of those quilts
and some other recent acquisitions opened in the Textile Galleries
on March 16, 2004 and continued until the end of September 2004. Shelly gave a lecture at the museum at the opening titled "American Quilts: Patchwork of Meanings, Purposes and Origins."
Collection Travel
Having been closely involved over the years with the travel of several exhibitions, Shelly is in a position to develop traveling exhibitions and to avoid the pitfalls that can occur.
She also has inside knowledge of most of the major public and private collections through the research on her book American Quilt Collections: Antique Quilt Masterpieces.
If your organization is looking to develop a particular theme for travel in the U.S. or abroad, Shelly can locate the quilts, negotiate with the museums and organize the paperwork.
She currently has several foreign venues under consideration. In 2005 she worked with NHK, the public TV station in Japan, to gather together a group of quilts on a theme for their 2005 Quilt Festival. Shelly also worked with NHK for Tokyo Quilt Festivals in 2007 and 2008.
Quilt Projects
As the driving force behind the first state documentation project - The Kentucky Quilt Project, originating in Kentucky in 1981, Shelly can develop similar projects for you from inception, proposal
writing and funding development to completion. Kentucky's project became
the model for at least 45 others in the United States and abroad and spawned
nearly as many books and catalogues.
In 1991-92 The Kentucky Quilt Project,
Inc produced Louisville Celebrates the American Quilt. During that effort 6 exhibitions at 4 venues in Louisville were produced (the J.B. Speed
Art Museum, the Louisville Science Center, The Kentucky Art and Craft
gallery, and the Louisville Visual Art Association); 4 academic conferences were organized
and 2 books were published - all simultaneously. As Shelly puts it, "After that experience, no project
is too large for me. I am energized and excited by the prospects of new
adventures!"
References are available for any of these projects on request.