VAM galleries including this work:
Museum of the American Quilter’s Society | What’s in a Name? || VAM Home

Yvonne Porcella responded to the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City with On Wednesday Morning, a quilt that reflects both the love and loss associated with the event. In particular, the quilt honors the 19 children for whom there will be no more Sesame Street, Kermit the Frog, or Mr. Potato Head. In the quilt, Mr. Potato Head is stunned and knocked off his perch in response to the tragedy. But the work is also full of hope, love, and concern for those who were lost and for those who suffered the loss.

"In America, we care deeply for our neighbors, and the outpouring of love shown to the victims is reflected in the spray of hearts which flow out of Kermit’s hands,” Porcella explains. “The cross in the center of this quilt honors the martyrs. The cross is rooted in rocks, but the message is hope. The eternal bright green on the edges of the quilt reflect the rebirth in God’s grace of these tiny souls. The small angels have flown back to God.”

About the Artist

Yvonne Porcella comes from a family tradition of needlework and sewing. She made her first garment when she was 9 and has been a fiber artist since the 1960s, making dolls, unique garments, and woven wall hangings. She made her first art quilt in 1980 and is known for her use of color, often hand-painting her fabrics.

Porcella’s work has toured in national and international shows and is collected by individuals, corporations, and museums. She teaches and lectures in the U.S. and abroad, has written eight books, and was the founder of Studio Art Quilt Associates. Her quilt Keep Both Feet on the Ground was chosen as one of the 100 Best American Quilts of the 20th Century. In 1998, she was inducted into the Quilter’s Hall of Fame. She was featured in the PBS documentary A Century of Quilts: America in Cloth.

Classroom Ideas

Discussion: Quilts have a long history of memorializing the dead or serving as memory aids. What do you know about the event this quilt memorializes? What clues in the quilt show us that it was made to honor children? Discuss symbolism: the assigning of a deeper meaning to objects, places, or actions. Select three symbols on this quilt and discuss what you think they mean.

Activities: Choose a public or personal event from your memory. Choose symbols to represent your feelings about this event and create a quilt design using them. What colors and fabrics would you use? In groups, research memorials done in a variety of art media. Create posters about them and display the posters in the classroom.

Links

Yvonne Porcella’s web site includes information about the artist and images of her work.
[www.yvonne.porcella.ws/]

Read an interview with Yvonne Porcella at the Center for the Quilt Online.
[www.centerforthequilt.org/qsos/show_interview.php?pbd=qsos-a0a0s8-a]