Festival of Quilts Guest Speaker

Festival of Quilts Guest Speaker

Erick Wolfmeyer completed his first quilt in 1998 with the help of a pattern casually purchased while on vacation in Sisters, Oregon. With inspiration rooted in traditional quilts, his quilt-making has evolved into a pathway to mend early losses and discover beauty and meaning.  Erick’s work integrates many interests including architecture, nature, current events, spirituality, music, literature and memory.
 
Erick credits his quilt-making career to much serendipity, grace and generosity. In his early years of quilt-making, fabric shop owners and hand quilters became (and remain) an essential part of his development as a quilt maker. Erick’s work has been recognized largely within the conventional quilt community, yet his fine arts education nonetheless influences his work and his desire to expand the medium of quilt-making into the that arena. 
 
Born with a cleft lip and palate in St Louis, Missouri, Erick experienced numerous corrective surgeries and hospital stays from his first day after birth well into his twenties. This birth anomaly also resulted in the permanent separation from his birth family.  Adopted and raised in Quincy, Illinois, Erick returned to St. Louis for his college education at Washington University, graduating in 1990 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography. 
Erick’s work has been featured in numerous books and periodicals and has been exhibited throughout the US and China. With each new piece, Erick celebrates quilt-making as the perfect metaphor for an imperfect, but well-lived life.
 
Erick will be speaking on Saturday, April 9 at 10:30 am and again at 2:30 pm in the Administration building on the Cunningham campus. Pick up a program in the Spiritual Life Center for additional details.