Traveling quilt exhibit honors National Park Service centennial

During March, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park will display 13 colorful art quilts created to celebrate the National Park Service centennial anniversary.

The park quilts will be on exhibit in the Volcano House’s Great Room starting today and continuing through March 27. The public is invited to view the quilts before they are shipped to the Statue of Liberty National Monument in New York. There is no charge to view the quilt show, but park entrance fees apply.

The quilts were created by Fiber Works, a group of textile artists from Nebraska’s Lincoln-Omaha area. Inspired by the centennial of the National Park Service, the artists selected 13 national parks, including Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which also turns 100 this year, as inspiration for a traveling collection of quilts. The quilts arrive in Hawaii following their exhibit for Saguaro National Park in Arizona.

Dorothy Heidemann-Nelson, a retired chemist and lifelong quilter, created the quilt that represents Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, incorporating traditional Hawaiian kapa (bark cloth) created by kapa maker Joni Mae Makuakane-Jarrell, who also serves as the park’s chief of interpretation. Heidemann-Nelson used the gift of kapa to represent the volcanic birth of Hawaii, and the culture of the islands. The lava on the left side of the quilt is a tough construction-industry material called Tyvek that she painted with acrylic art paint, then heat shrunk. The fern fronds depicted on the right side represent new life. The park will receive the imaginative quilt as a gift after the traveling exhibit ends in December.

Before joining the traveling NPS Quilt Exhibit, Heidemann-Nelson’s art quilt took first place at the Nebraska State Fair in the original design class. It was also selected as Judge’s Choice in the Seward, Nebraska, County Fair. ■