…and Our Flag Was Still There
Sponsored by: The late Pat Brockenborough, former reporter for the Paducah Sun and contributing writer for Posh Magazine
Installed in November 2020
THE QUILT
…and Our Flag Was Still There
Size: 33.75 in x 55.5 in
Year: 2011
Description:
Melinda used fusible appliqué and heavy thread painting to create this quilt. “I was moved to make this quilt after my only son became a United States Marine. As quilters, we work out our life changes and challenges in cloth. I had no idea of the impact his quilt would have on the public. I dedicate this quilt to all military families who have raised sons and daughters who sacrifice to keep us free.
…and Our Flag Was Still There is in The National Quilt Museum Collection.
THE QUILT MAKER
Melinda Bula
Bakersfield, California
My artistic journey started in college, where I worked at a fabric store on nights and weekends and studied art by day. Of course, fabrics began to influence my art. For the last 19 years, I have been traveling, teaching, and lecturing internationally at big quilt festivals and guides all about my quilt art technique. This technique is a painterly, impressionistic, stylized way to build art quilts that look like paintings but are mostly just fabrics and threads. My scissors have become my paintbrush.
THE MURALIST
Stefanie Graves
Cowango Studio, Paducah, Kentucky
Stefanie has had a fascination with art since childhood, but her career path took some rather wide diversions before she decided to make art her livelihood. Originally a nurse and later a health care administrator, she began working full-time as an artist in 2004 in pursuit of this dream. After residing in the greater Chicago area for 15 years and 3 years in central Mexico, she and her husband David became part of the Artist Relocation Program in Paducah, KY. They still spend a few months each year in their home in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. They are fortunate to share in two communities that embody the artistic spirit; where art is a natural presence in the community.
