Hive Project, International Quilt Museum Records

The Hive Project is a collaborative quilt installation by twelve artists from the Washington, DC, area New Image Group. Many of these nationally known quilt artists, teachers, and authors were looking for a way to enlarge the scope of the quilt as an art medium, and to bring it into public view. Patricia Autenrieth conceived the project, and it is so named to pay homage to the traditional bee, part of quilting's unique history. It is a variable installation comprising 768 twelve-inch quilted squares and its look changes every time it is shown, inviting each venue's curator into the collaboration. Each artist made 64 separately hung 12" squares, with their choice of subject, to be hung in a grouping that allows its outer columns to intermix with those of other groupings. The artists include Patricia Autenrieth, Jeanne Benson, Ardyth Davis, Michele Duell, Amanda Ford, Lesly-Claire Greenberg, Dorothy Holden, Catherine Kleeman, Dominie Nash, Sue Pierce, Linda Tilton, and Michelle Vernon. The project completed in 1999 and is now in the collection of the International Quilt Museum.