Deborah Fell Art Quilts--Artist Professional Information
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A Day in the Life of an Artist
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Winter 2012 Art
Quilting Studio |
Deborah's work may be found at the following galleries:
Illinois
Artisan Galleries
Chicago, Rend Lake, Springfield
Illinois
Mendocino Art Center in Mendocino, California
Or contact Deborah Fell if interested in purchasing art work
Artist Biography

Deborah Fell at the Verde Art Gallery in Champaign,
Illinois.
Deborah Fell is a studio artist committed to the art quilt medium.
She is a professional member of the Studio Art Quilt Associates,
the Surface Design Association and has had over twenty years of
education at the Quilt/Surface Design Symposium in
Mendocino 2011-12 Artist-in-Residence Blog
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I make art quilts because they are a means of self-expression combining the beauty of art and the comforting tradition of quilting. I have made art quilts to celebrate great happiness, to depict shadowed confusion and to maintain the balance of my inner self. My designs often have a message or a purpose; many of the pieces are story quilts. Sometimes that message is whimsical and sometimes it is a message that poses serious questions about issues that have touched my soul or rocked my world in some way.
During the school year I teach Learning Disabilities and Behavior Disorders at the high school level. I have done this job for over twenty-seven years. Although challenging, it is a position that I continue to respect and am respected for. My job of passion is being a quilt artist. Perhaps one has enabled the other; I would not be complete without either of them. One profession has fed the other and now that retirement is near, I know definitively that working with troubled teens has made me a better artist.
I am an artist because I believe art makes a difference in our world; it is a gift we give ourselves and it is a celebration of our very souls.
*Professional member of the Studio
Art Quilt
Association
Member of Art Quilt Network
*Member of Surface Design Association
Member
: 40 North/88 West : Champaign County Arts
Alliance
Member: Champaign-Urbana
Craft League
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February 2012 |
Fresh Invitational Exhibit; Oddfellows Gallery; Mendocino, California. |
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Winter 2012 |
Deborah Fell's art on front cover of Art Quilting Studio, Winter 2012, Stampington Press |
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2011-12 |
“Echo
Squares;” Sense
of Adventure Exhibit, sponsored by Studio Art Quilt Associates;
International Quilt
Festival; Houston, Texas. |
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November2011 |
"Are We Losing the War Against Violence in Our Schools?" Art Quilts Year XVI: Something to Say, Chandler Center for the Arts, Chandler, Arizona. |
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2011-12 |
Artist-in-Residence; Mendocino Art Center; Mendocino, California. |
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Summer 2011 |
Solo Art Exhibit; Danville Art League; Danville, Illinois. |
| Summer 2011 |
“Witness Trees;”
Wounded in Action: An Art Exhibition of Orthopaedic Advancements; Chicago
Cultural Center, Chicago, Illinois. |
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May 2011 |
Happiness: Quilted Expressions; Echo Spirals; Riffe Gallery; Organized by Quilt Surface Design Symposium Foundation & sponsored by The Ohio Arts Council; Columbus, Ohio. |
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May 2010 |
The Artist as Quiltmaker XIV; Reclamation Red; Firelands Association for the Visual Arts; May 16-July 31, 2010; Oberlin, Ohio. |
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April 2010 |
And Then There Was Hope; The Journey of Hope in America: Quilts Inspired by Barack Obama; National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center; Wilberforce, Ohio. |
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March 2010 |
Wounded in Action: An Art
Exhibition of Orthopaedic Advancements; American
Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons; International
juried art exhibit; Morial
Convention Center; New Orleans, Louisiana; March 2010. |
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November 2009 |
And Then There Was Hope: Barak Obama Quilt; Japan International Quilt Show; The Journey of Hope in America: Quilts Inspired by Barak Obama; curated by Dr. Carolyn L. Mazloomi; National Afro-American Museum; Yokohama, Japan. |
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August 2009 |
Design collaboration with Ty Pennington; Special master bedroom art project for Extreme Home Makeover; Season 7; Philo, Illinois. |
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June 2009 |
QSDS (Quilt Surface/Design Symposium) Faculty Exhibit; Columbus, Ohio. |
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Summer 2009 |
A 'Green Theme'; The Works Gallery; Newark, New Jersey. The Works is a Smithsonian Institution Affiliate Museum. |
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April 2009 |
Signature Image for the Champaign County Boneyard Arts Festival; Champaign County, Illinois. |
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Spring 2008 |
Commission for Greater Community Aids Project; Champaign, Illinois. |
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April 2008 |
eMotion Pictures: An Exhibition of Orthopedics in Art; International juried art exhibit; Chicago Cultural Arts Center; Chicago, Illinois. |
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April 2008 |
Art Quilt Elements; Wayne Art Center; ArtQuilt Elements, formerly ArtQuilts at the Sedgwick, is now a biennial juried exhibition celebrating its eighth show; Philadelphia, Pennyslvania. |
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March 2008 |
eMotion Pictures: An Exhibition of Orthopedics in
Art; International juried art exhibit; Moscone West; San Francisco. |
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March 2008 |
Blue; exhibit at Translations Gallery; Denver, Colorado. |
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Spring 2008 |
Ross Art Museum; Ohio Arts Council; Ohio Wesleyan University; Ohio. |
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February 2008 |
Heart of the Matter; Illinois Artisan Gallery; Rend Lake, Illinois. |
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Fall 2007 |
"Balancing Act;" Studio Art Quilt Associates Exhibit; Lawrence Street Gallery; Ferndale, Michigan. |
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Summer 2007 |
"2007 National Small Art Quilt Works;" The Main Street Gallery; Groton, New York. |
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April 2007 |
Southern Illinois Artisans Gallery; Spring Exhibit; Whittington, Illinois. |
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January 2006 |
Champaign County commission for the Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration quilt; University of Illinois Krannert Center; Champaign, Illinois. |
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September 2005 |
Tuesday's Child: Does God Have Enough Hands?; Trinity St. Paul's Chapel; New York City, New York. |
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Winter 2004 |
Champaign County United Way Exhibit; Carousel of Caring Horses; Champaign, Illinois. |
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October 2004 |
Light Path; Day of the Dead Exhibit; Verde Art Gallery; Champaign, Illinois. Verde Art Gallery; Champaign, Illinois. |
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September 2004 |
Snowfire; United Way of Champaign County Carousel of Caring Horses exhibit; sponsor Carle Clinic and Hospital; Urbana, Illinois. |
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May 2004 |
QUILTED SURFACE II; Riffe Gallery; An exhibition of quilts juried by Jill Davis, curator of exhibitions at the Wexner Center for the Arts, and Ned Wert, Painter, Fiber Artists and Teacher; Columbus, Ohio. |
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January 2004 |
Form, Not Function: Quilt Art at the Carnegie; Juried, contemporary art quilt competition; The Carnegie Center for Art & History, New Albany, Indiana. |
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January 2004 |
The Art & Soul of Quilting; National Juried Exhibit; Anderson Arts Center; Kenosha, Wisconsin. |
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October 2003 |
Six week solo art exhibit; Fine Art Fabric; Verde Art Gallery; Champaign, Illinois. |
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May 2003 |
"Painted Squares," International exhibit Quilt National 2003; Dairy Barn Cultural Arts Center; Athens, Ohio. Catalog available. |
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April 2003 |
"Journey," selected for the front cover of the April issue of the American Journal of Nursing. |
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April 2003 |
"Shadow Flight," selected for the juried exhibit Birds, Flight and the Wrights; Aullwood Audubon Society; Dayton, Ohio. |
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Fall 2002 |
"Silence Broken;" Roots of Racism: Ignorance & Fear; a national juried exhibit; Arts in Embassies Program of the U.S. Department of State; Embassy, Islamabad, Pakistan. |
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June 2002 |
"Tuesday's Child: Does God Have Enough Hands?" Fiber Exhibit; State of Illinois Building; sponsored by the Illinois Artisan Program/Illinois State Museum; Chicago, Illinois. |
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Summer 2002 |
"Silence Broken;" Roots of Racism: Ignorance & Fear; a national juried exhibit; Atlanta History Museum; Atlanta, Georgia. |
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February 2002 |
"Carl's Window's" series sponsored by a grant from Urbana H.S. Student Senate in memory of a faculty member; one piece will hang at the high school & the other two pieces will hang in the Radiation Oncology reception area of the Carle Clinic Cancer Center; Urbana, Illinois. |
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January 2002 |
"Enthesopathy: Weaving a Web of Pain;" eMotion Pictures: An Exhibition of Orthopedics in Art; national juried art exhibit; United Nations Building; New York City, New York; the exhibit then travels to Washington, D.C., Penn State University & Hershey Medical School. |
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November 2001 |
Material Images: Contemporary Midwestern Quilts; juried art quilt exhibit; 'Just Out of Reach;' Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences; Peoria, Illinois; Southern Illinois Art Gallery, Spring 2002. |
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October 2001 |
Modern Threads Art Quilts/Year Six; juried art show; 'Lightning Tree Two' chosen for the publicity image; Chandler Center for the Arts; Chandler, Arizona. |
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October 2001 |
"Silence Broken;" Roots of Racism: Ignorance & Fear; a national juried exhibit; Houston International Quilt Festival 2001; Houston, Texas. |
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August 2001 |
Fiber Arts 2001; juried exhibit, fiber medium; Gallery 510; Decatur, Illinois. |
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May 2001 |
Expressions; juried art exhibit; Summer series of three artists; Springer Cultural Arts Center; Champaign, Illinois. |
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February 2001 |
"Enthesopathy: Weaving a Web of Pain;" eMotion Pictures: An Exhibition of Orthopaedics in Art; national juried art exhibit; Herbst International Exhibition Hall in the San Francisco Presidio; San Francisco, California; exhibit travels to Chicago Cultural Center, Washington, D.C., Madrid, Spain & the United Nations Center in New York City through 2002; sponsored by the Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. Catalog & calendar available. |
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Spring 2001 |
"Scattered;" Postcard Art Competition/Exhibition 2001; Lake County Museum; Wauconda, Illinois. |
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November 2000 |
"Wheel in Motion;" Exit/Entrance Exhibit; An exhibit of art quilts interpreting our departure from one century and entry into another; sponsored by Studio Art Quilt Associates; New Mexico State Capital Building; Santa Fe, New Mexico. Catalog available. |
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November 2000 |
"Journey" & "Silent Revelry;" Art Quilt 2000 Invitational; Invitational Exhibit featuring ten artists; J. Funk Fine Art, Inc. Gallery; Maumee, Ohio. |
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Fall 2000 |
"Silence Broken;" Roots of Racism: Ignorance & Fear; A national juried exhibit; Vertigo Studios; Award received for Best Use of Threads; Memphis, Tennessee. Catalog available soon. |
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Fall 2000 |
"Sharing the Secret;" Invitation to exhibit as a regional finalist for the "Illinois Women Artists: The New Millennium"; Illinois State University; Normal, Illinois |
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August 2000 |
Invitation to the Governor's Mansion for the Presentation for Excellence in the State of Illinois; Springfield, Illinois. |
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Spring 2000 |
Art quilt "Silent Revelry" selected for the juried exhibit The Good Earth; Aullwood Audubon Society; Dayton, Ohio. |
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April 2000 |
One-woman art quilt exhibition; twenty-three art quilts on display as the featured artist for the month of April; Pages for all Ages Bookstore; Champaign, Illinois. |
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1999/2000 |
Three art quilts exhibited from March 1999 through March 2000 in the Annual Teacher Educator Art Exhibit at the Illinois Education Association teacher union headquarters; two pieces purchased for permanent exhibit; Springfield, Illinois |
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Spring 1999 |
Art quilt "Twisted Thoughts" selected for the juried exhibit Metamorphosis; Aullwood Audubon Society; Dayton, Ohio. |
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Winter 1999 |
Art quilt "Silence Broken" selected as a Regional Finalist for Illinois Women Artists of the Millennium; Chicago, Illinois. |
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Fall 1998 |
Art quilt "Silence Broken" on exhibit in Illinois Crossroads: Quilts 1998; Illinois State Museum; Springfield, Illinois. |
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Spring/ |
Art quilt "Silence Broken" selected by the Southern Illinois Art Gallery for the exhibit Illinois Crossroads: Quilts 1998; Image also used for promotional brochure; sponsored by the Illinois State Museum; April through August 1998; Whittington, Illinois. |
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Summer 1998 |
Art quilt exhibit "Cutting Through Tradition"; Parkland College Art Gallery; May through June 1998; Champaign, Illinois. |
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March 1998 |
Art quilt "What Do You See?" selected for the juried exhibit All Creatures Great & Small; Aullwood Audubon Society, Dayton, Ohio. |
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Summer 1997 |
Art quilt "Twisted Thoughts" selected for Hanging By A Thread: Art Quilts on the Edge; an exhibit of studio art quilts sponsored by Northern Arizona University Art Museum and Galleries; June through August 1997; Flagstaff, Arizona. |
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April 1997 |
Juried and accepted into the Illinois Artisan Program; the Illinois Artisans Program is sponsored by the Illinois State Museum to promote fine artisan work made in Illinois. |
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January 1997 |
Founding member of Art Quilters of Central Illinois; this organization has been established to provide professional support for fiber artists in central Illinois. |
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September 1996 |
Art quilt "Are We Losing the War Against Violence in Our Schools?" chosen for the 1997 Celebration of Women calendar for the month of September; sponsored by East Central Illinois Planned Parenthood; Champaign, Illinois |
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July 1996 |
One-woman art quilt exhibit; ten quilts were featured; July & August 1997; Sweet Betsy's; Urbana, Illinois. |
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May 1996 |
Illinois Arts Grant recipient; the project, partially funded by the Illinois Arts Council, was a daffodil quilt "Hope," designed for the Carle Clinic Oncology Department in Urbana, Illinois; daffodils are the chosen flower of hope by the American Cancer Society. |
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Summer 1996 |
Contributing editor; article 'Stolen Art' published in Art/Quilt Magazine; Issue #6, Page 6. |
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March 1994 |
Art quilt "Are We Losing the War Against Violence in Our Schools?" exhibited from March 1994 through March 1995 in the Annual Teacher Educator Art Exhibit at the Illinois Education Association teacher union headquarters; Springfield, Illinois. |
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A Day in the Life of an Artist
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Winter 2012 Art
Quilting Studio |
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