VAM galleries including this work:
Museum of the American Quilter’s Society | Young at Art || VAM Home

Jonathan Shannon’s Air Show won the Best of Show Award at the 1993 American Quilter’s Society Quilt Show—and was the first quilt made by a man to earn that honor. It was also chosen one of the 100 top American quilts of the 20th century at the International Quilt Festival in 1999.

The quilt was inspired by Shannon’s interest in early airplanes and his desire to create a quilt that would interest men. “I have always loved early airplanes from a design standpoint as well as for their emotional and romantic images,” Shannon says. “I set about to create with fabric a sense of air and the weight of air that holds up airplanes. The smaller planes are set within an atmosphere of time, yet are all part of the same space.” The back of the quilt (not shown) features an additional airplane.

About the Artist

Jonathan Shannon began quilting in 1989 because he thought it would be fun. With no tradition of quilting in his family and no friends who quilted, he relied on classes to learn how. He studied the techniques of traditional quilting but developed his own style. “I think of fabrics as one’s palette the way an artist would paint,” he says. While he was once a very active quilter, in recent years quilting has taken a secondary role to Shannon’s other interests.

Classroom Ideas

Discussion: Shannon has said that with Air Show, he wanted to “create with fabric a sense of air and the weight of air that holds up airplanes.” Do you think he was successful in doing so? How? How has Shannon used the elements of art in his quilt? Support your response with specific details that reference the artwork.

Activities: Shannon chose to make a quilt about airplanes because he was interested in early aviation. Choose a subject you are interested in and plan a quilt about that subject. Draw a sketch of what it might look like. What images and colors would you include?

Links

Jonathan Shannon was featured in the PBS documentary A Century of Quilts. You’ll find more information on him and other quilters, plus classroom ideas and a quilt quiz, at the companion web site.
[www.pbs.org/americaquilts]

Read an interview with Jonathan Shannon at the Center for the Quilt Online. This site has extensive resources, including quilters’ stories, clips from films about quilts, information on preserving your family’s quilts, and a kit with information on how to interview a quilter.
[www.centerforthequilt.org]