Living Quilt for Steckborn was installed on April 17, 2021, in Steckborn, Switzerland, with many people attending the outdoor ceremony held at the site on the shores of Lake Constance. This public art installation was coordinated with the art center in Steckborn, Haus zur Glocke, and curator Judit Villiger. The public artwork was jointly sponsored by Haus zur Glocke and the city of Steckborn. It was a windy and cold day when the installation was done at 5PM on April 17 in Steckborn, but we hope the wildflower seeds in this handmade paper “living quilt” will sprout in the coming weeks as the days get warmer. Hopefully, many wildflowers in the same colors and pattern will appear in the “bed” in a few months.

Here are a few photos by photographer Kaspar Schweizer at the installation ceremony held with public participation and speeches by curator Judit Villiger and a Steckborn City Council member. Many people helped to lay down the 25 handmade paper squares of the quilt that was created by me in my Santa Rosa studio and mailed to Switzerland. The quilt design is in a traditional American quilt pattern called “Peaks and Valleys” or “Delectable Mountains” and was one in common use during the time of pioneers traveling to settle the Western part of the U.S. and going over many mountains and valleys to reach their new homes. This pattern also refers to the landscape of Switzerland, since in Steckborn you can see the peaks of high mountains in the distance. This pattern also reminds us of the peaks and valleys of our lives during this pandemic time and expresses hopes for a better future. We can watch the regenerative power of nature as the seeds in the handmade paper pulp go into the soil on the prepared bed and sprout and grow into a blooming flower bed. Keep watching this Blog for more photos as the “Living Quilt for Steckborn” begins to transform.

I also have two of my handmade paper artworks at Haus zur Glocke gallery in their current indoor gallery exhibition “Opening the Atlas” which consists of indoor artworks by me and two other Swiss artists, Hannes Brunner, Berlin/Zürich and Claudia Schmid, Zürich. Check out the website at http://www.hauszurglocke.ch for more information in German about this exhibition and the Haus zur Glocke art center in Steckborn, Switzerland. My works in the current Haus Zur Glocke exhibition titled “Opening the Atlas” include “Daily Scrolls” created in 2020 as a response to the global pandemic. It contains rolled handmade paper scrolls with daily drawings and writings on them, and viewers are invited to take out a scroll, look at it, add something of their own to it and then return it to the wire recycled grid. The show also contains one of my handmade paper quilts “Sitka Paper Quilt 1” that I made during my 2014 artist in residency at Sitka Center for Art and Ecology in Otis, Oregon. The paper quilts were started after seeing many “hex” signs in traditional quilt patterns painted on barns in that part of Oregon. Here are photos of those two works that are in the “Seeing the Atlas” exhibition in Steckborn at Haus zur Glocke.

I will be posting other photos of “Living Quilt for Steckborn” as I receive them from people in Steckborn. There is also a box at the site of the “bed” installation for people in Steckborn to leave their wishes for a better 2021, and we will post some of those as they start to come in.

I am happy to report that my art installation “Living Quilt for Sojourner Truth” at Sojourner Truth Community Garden in Sacramento has survived the recent storm last week that caused power outages, lots of rain, high winds and even mudslides and highway damages in northern California. Friends in Sacramento sent me photos to show the “bed” still in place and the sprouting wildflowers continuing to grow. More snow in higher elevations and more rain is expected this week. We will be waiting to see some blooming wildflowers here when the weather gets warmer and Spring arrives. Here is a photo taken on January 27 after the high winds and heavy rains in Sacramento by Bill Maynard of the Sacramento Parks Department.

This photo was taken by Corky Gas on January 29 and shows that the handmade paper has almost all disappeared with the rain and weather, and the wildflower seeds have sprouted and are continuing to grow. Corky lives near the Sojourner Truth Community Garden and wrote about this art project for the Sacramento News & Review publication. It is great to have these photos to document the progress of the transforming art installation.

Living Quilt for Sojourner Truth installed on Nov. 21, 2020

Seeds are sprouting already in my most recent “living quilt” public art installation in Sacramento at Sojourner Truth Community Garden in Sacramento, CA. “Living Quilt for Sojourner Truth” has seeds for wildflowers in the same colors and pattern as the handmade paper quilt, and it is transforming into a living blooming bed of wildflowers.

This photo was taken by Bill Maynard on January 4, 2021, and the “quilt” is turning green as the wildflower seedlings begin to grow. I will continue to post photos of this art installation as it changes over time, and we hope to see a blooming wildflower bed sometime in late March 2021.

This art project was part of the City of Sacramento’s Office of Arts & Culture 2020 Artist-in-Residency Program, and previous posts on this Blog give more information and more photos about the creation and installation.

Here is a link to another article about the installation of “Living Quilt for Sojourner Truth” in the January 2021 INSIDE SACRAMENTO: https://insidesacramento.com/pocket-life-january-2021/

“Stars of Hope”
an art installation by Jane Ingram Allen
at 620 4th Street, Santa Rosa, California
Installed on November 25, 2020

“Stars of Hope” is part of the Downtown Chamber’s “Open and Out” series of 2020 art and cultural activities in downtown Santa Rosa. In this time of a pandemic and an economic downturn, these stars of colorful handmade paper with seeds for wildflowers in them express hope for a brighter future in 2021. After the installation comes down in early 2021, these stars will be given out to residents to plant in their own yard or keep as a remembrance of this time and our hopes for a better world.

There are so many things we hope for as we approach the holiday season and the end of 2020 and start of 2021. We hope for an end to the pandemic and a cure or a vaccine for the Coronavirus that is still affecting us all around the world. We hope for more economic opportunities and a fairer distribution of wealth and good jobs for everyone. We hope for a better environment and a positive response to climate change and other issues affecting our relationship with the earth. We hope for a better understanding and a coming together for our country and a renewal of our commitment to the ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all people. We can wish upon these “Stars of Hope” and work together for a better 2021.
“Only in the darkness can you see the stars.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

Sutter Health in Santa Rosa liked the idea of this art installation and agreed to sponsor it for the Chamber’s “Winter Lights” public artworks this season. Words of hope by Sutter employees are included in signage for this installation.
This photo by Timothy S. Allen shows the installation with twinkling lights bringing light to the downtown area.