Contact:
Dan Carpenter
(325) 673-4587
Marketing@thegracemuseum.org

Grace opens special Alzheimer's focused quilt exhibit

Abilene, TX (January 15, 2008) - The Grace Museum opened a special exhibit today that is dedicated to raising awareness of the plight of 5 million Americans who suffer from Alzheimer's Disease.

Alzheimer's: Forgetting Piece By Piece is an exhibit created by the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative organization (www.AlzQuilts.org). The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative is a grassroots effort to raise awareness and fund research to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease.

Ami Sims, founder of the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative and curator of this show, began contacting professional quilters in 2005 with the idea of a traveling exhibit. To her surprise many of her colleagues had also experienced Alzheimer's in a very personal way. They were eager to use their talents to make a difference, to tell their stories and to comfort others.

The result is an exhibit of 52 art quilts, each unique to the quilter's style and the story told in fabric and thread. Each tribute is accompanied by the artist's statement. So far, an estimated 175,000 have had the opportunity of seeing these quilts. They began touring the country in August of 2006 and will travel until July 2009 when all of the quilts will return to their creators.

Sales of the companion book, CD and smaller priority quilts project through the website have raised more than an estimated $110,000 for Alzheimer's research.

Alzheimer's: Forgetting Piece By Piece will be on exhibit through February 28, 2008 in Galleries A, B and C on The Grace's second floor.

The exhibit is generously sponsored by Carl Childers, Jose Delucchi, Sheila and Peter Fox, Diane and Ed Coleman, Windcrest Alzheimer's Care Center, Home Instead Senior Care, and Dr. Angela Nicolini.

The Grace Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. every Thursday.  Admission is free Thursday evening after 5 p.m.

For more information, call 325-673-4587.

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The Grace Museum's exhibitions and educational programs are supported in part by grants from the Texas Commission on the Arts, the Abilene Cultural Affairs Council, the City of Abilene, Taylor County, and the Downtown Revitalization Program of the Tax Increment Finance District.