SAQA's Mission and Goals
Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. (SAQA) is a non-profit international organization whose mission is to promote the art quilt through education, exhibitions, professional development and documentation. Founded in 1989 by an initial group of 50 artists, SAQA now boasts over 2,400 members: artists, teachers, collectors, gallery owners, museum curators and corporate sponsors.
SAQA defines an art quilt as a contemporary artwork exploring and expressing aesthetic concerns common to the whole range of visual arts: painting, printmaking, photography, graphic design, assemblage and sculpture, which retains, through materials or technique, a clear relationship to the folk art quilt from which it descends.
SAQA's mission is to:
- Publish a newsletter and e.Bulletin addressing the professional needs of the working quilt artist.
- Publicize information about the art quilt through a web site, Professional Artist Member portfolios, and referrals to teachers and speakers for workshops and symposia.
- Educate through a series of conferences and lectures.
- Create a network of collectors, dealers and artists.
- Produce quality exhibitions, with documentary catalogues and critical reviews.
- Encourage critical writing, research and publication of articles about art quilts in the art press, popular press and scholarly journals.