The distinctive creative talents of Emma Schrock, “the Grandma Moses of Elkhart County,” and several of Elkhart County’s community of artists is being showcased in a special exhibition this spring at Butler University.
“Imagine the Possibilities: An Exhibition of Quilts” opens Tuesday, March 19, 2019, at Clowes Memorial Hall, a performing arts center on the Indianapolis campus. It is being presented as three distinct exhibitions, with the first one titled “An Exhibition of Traditional, Antique and Vintage Quilts” through April 14, 2019.
The exhibition of folk artist Emma Schrock’s works was made possible by a collaboration of Butler University and the Elkhart County Convention & Visitors Bureau staff, Bradley Vite of Bradley Vite Fine Arts and the Midwest Museum of American Art.
Starting March 19 through April 14, 2019, five pieces created by Schrock will be on exhibit in the Clowes Hall foyer. The five pieces are the Legacy Quilt pattern model, a painted milk can, and two framed art prints and a giclee of her most popular painting, “Airing of the Quilts,” which are on loan from Vite’s private collection.
This exhibit at Butler will be followed up with “Folk Memories: The Paintings of Emma Schrock” at the Midwest Museum of American Art. From April 12, 2019 to June 2, 2019, this exhibition will survey a dozen of Schrock’s paintings from the MMAA collection.
“There could not be a better time to showcase Emma Schrock’s artistry,” said Diana Lawson, CEO of the ECCVB. “Emma’s skill and dedication to her art represents what we are all about in Elkhart County as makers committed to quality.”
Celebrating the life of fabric artists such as quilters as well as the melding of urban and rural vistas lies at the heart of the ECCVB’s annual Quilt Gardens and Quilt Murals display, which is also being featured at Butler University.
Emma Schrock (1924-1991) was born in Wakarusa into an Old Order Mennonite family. A physical condition left her unable to bear children and she never married. She started painting at age 40, having received permission from elders in her church to paint non-human forms and earn a living from the sale of her works.
Schrock’s pieces drew from her life and memories of rural Elkhart County, depicting iconic images such as a barn raising and a quilting table. She became known to fans of her work as “the Grandma Moses of Elkhart County.”
The Elkhart County Convention & Visitors Bureau is the official tourism advertising/marketing and public/community relations organization for the Elkhart County hospitality industry. The ECCVB advances quality-of-place initiatives in our downtowns and rural spaces, parks and natural environment, arts and culture, and events, festivals, groups and activities that help forge social connections.
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For more information, contact Terry T. Mark, director of communications of the Elkhart County Convention and Visitors Bureau, at 574-262-8161 or terry@eccvb.org.