In 2012, our museum  will be open by reservation only for tour groups and special events. For more info, call 717.299.6440, or email us at info@lancasterheritage.com.  Or visit us during the American Quilters Society Convention Week, March 14-18, when the museum will be open to the public from 9am to 5pm.

We’re located in the heart of Lancaster City’s vibrant arts district, just steps away from Central Market. The stunning architecture of this 1912 Beaux Arts Bank is accented by exhibitions in the building’s textile gallery, featuring the rich and diverse textile traditions of Lancaster County and south-central Pennsylvania.

At the heart of the museum’s exhibitions is what many scholars consider to be the finest collection of authentic late 19th-20th century Amish Quilts indigenous to this region. Formerly known as the “Esprit Collection”, it was the brainchild of Doug Tompkins, a founder of the Esprit Corporation, who began collecting the quilts during the 1970s. The Heritage Center acquired this collection in 2002.  The combination of the Esprit Collection with the Heritage Center’s own quilt and textile collection results in one of the largest collections of its kind anywhere to be presented in context with the stories of south-central Pennsylvanians.

THE GRID exhibition,  is a joint project between Franklin &  Marshall College’s Art & Art History Department and  the Lancaster Quilt & Textile Museum. Featuring the “Esprit  Collection” of Amish Quilts as well as artifacts from 1980’s  fashion and culture, this exhibit demonstrates the influence of  traditional Amish designs on postmodern art and fashion.

Used as design inspiration in Esprit headquarters during the  creation of their iconic 1980s fashions, the ‘Esprit Collection’ of Amish quilts is shown here in the company of Esprit objects for the first time. Paired with Esprit sweaters, advertisements, and other objects of postmodern design, this exhibition celebrates the traditional Amish culture in a magnificent display of color, style, and aesthetic beauty. Titled THE GRID, the exhibition examines the common reliance on the grid as a design matrix by both Amish quilters and modernist designers, and compares these with postmodern experiments in ‘breaking’ or ‘exploding’ the grid.

This first-time collaboration between Franklin & Marshall College and The Heritage Center of Lancaster County, seeks to attract viewers interested in local tradition, fashion, and brilliant design. Dr. Amelia Rauser, Associate Professor of Art History at F&M led a fall seminar of six students who studied these quilts. Dr. Rauser states, “THE GRID exhibition presents a wonderful opportunity to travel back in time to the 1980’s and see how our local culture revolutionized the American ideas of art and fashion.”

Wendy Nagle, Executive Director of the Heritage Center of Lancaster County, which owns and operates the museum, shares the story behind the development of the exhibition. “The idea of looking at these quilts through the lens of 1980’s Esprit fashion was brought to us by Gloria Mast, a local adjunct professor of art history and curatorial consultant to our museum. This past summer during a museum focus group at F&M, we shared the concept with Dr. Rauser, who immediately saw the connection between the quilts, fashion and art. We were excited by the possibilities, and delighted to be able to make these magnificent historic objects accessible for the students’ study and observation. It is our hope that this will be the first of many future collaborations with our higher-education community.”

The museum gratefully acknowledges our exhibit sponsor Two Dudes Painting Company.