Penny Sisto Exhibit

I had the opportunity to attend a gallery talk and see a fabulous exhibit by fiber artist Penny Sisto at The Carnegie Center for Art & History in New Albany, Indiana. Penny has captured the 60s in her solo show “The Sixties—Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out.” Penny describes the time for her as “Escape and Ecstasy.” I think it was that way for a lot of us.

I have always loved her work. Several years ago, she had some pieces on display at KMAC (Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft). There was a piece there that just “haunted” me—I couldn’t get it out of my mind (and still can’t). I hesitated on the purchase and lost it to someone else. I mentioned it to Penny when I saw her at this latest exhibit. She assured me that it found a good home. I STILL regret not buying that piece.

Anyway, back to this exhibit…the show is loosely divided into sections—art and music, spiritual growth, civil rights and like-minded counter culture people. One of the pieces that really speaks to me is “Vote.” It is a HUGE piece. I can’t imagine the making of this piece as Penny’s studio is rather small.

So that you can get an idea about the size of this piece, I took a picture of Penny in front of it as she was speaking about it during the gallery talk I attended.

Penny says, “It was made during the last election…it stresses the importance of every single Vote…it also shows a ballot called Choice ’68 that was sent to schools and colleges listing names of possible candidates…every name on that list inspired in me hope or despair.”

I still love the music and excitement of that time. Her quilts of John Lennon, Jimi Hendricks, Janis Joplin, etc. take me back to that time.

Some of my friends were lucky enough to acquire one of her quilts at this exhibit.

Congratulations you two!!!

If you have the opportunity to see this exhibit in person, be sure you do. It is SO worth a trip to New Albany.