written by: Mary Brown Malouf
I spent this morning interviewing Navajo artist Susan Hudson for a podcast to be aired next week. Hudson is in town for the Natural History Museum of Utah’s annual Indian Art Market, ending today (Sunday). Hudson is a member of the Towering House Clan of the Navajo Nation and an award-winning quilter. This is Hudson’s second visit to the Natural History Museum’s show—last year, she went home with a prize to add to her collection.
Most of us think of native American art forms as pottery and weaving. Hudson’s chosen medium, quiltmaking, is an art form spread by Christian missionaries and taught in the Indian schools where the goal was to assimilate Indians into white culture. The federal government began sending American Indians to off-reservation boarding schools in the 1870s, when the United States was still at war with Indians. Hudson has turned an art form of the oppressor into a commentary on being oppressed.
Tune in to Salt Lake Speaks later this month where Hudson will discuss her quilt art, how she came to it and the meaning behind her work.
As a fellow seamstress, I had to ask Hudson what kind of sewing machine she used. Of course, a Bernina, she told me.
So I need to tell you here that the owner of Bernina International, Hanspeter Ueltschi and his son Philipp will be in Utah next week!
For anyone who sews, this is a Big Deal. Bernina is the premier manufacturer of precision, sewing, embroidery and quilting machines, ne plus ultra of sewing machines since 1893. He and his son are in town for the opening of a new Dave’s Bernina store in Provo at 2017 N. 550 West, Because of Utah’s strong pioneer heritage, quilting and home sewing is alive and well here and Dave’s Bernina (locations in Salt Lake and St. George) is the number one dealer in the country. Have your machine signed, learn about the history and innovations at Bernina and enter a raffle to win a Bernina 330.
