The Great Wisconsin Quilt Show remembers quilter and textile artist Marquetta B. Johnson

August 1, 2025 Tara Lovdahl Leave a Comment

Co-presented by PBS Wisconsin and Nancy Zieman Productions, The Great Wisconsin Quilt Show brings quilters together at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Sept. 4-6, 2025, to create, learn about and celebrate the art of quilting.

This year’s featured quilt exhibit celebrates the life and legacy of Marquetta B. Johnson (1956-2025), a textile artist and quilter whose magnetic and warm spirit made her a beloved instructor and vendor at The Great Wisconsin Quilt Show.

In her artistic career, Johnson mastered surface design techniques such as dyeing, painting and weaving with fabrics, and her art is in the High Museum of Art collection. She experimented with a variety of textiles since she was a young child.

The “Marquetta B. Johnson Legacy Exhibit” is presented by her family, who shared that as a young girl she was instructed in crocheting by a teacher who was exceedingly attentive to her. This mentorship helped channel her boundless energy into art and initiated her creative journey.

Johnson’s grandmother, Hattie Miles, then started teaching her conventional quilting tools and techniques. As her quilting developed, Johnson merged traditional techniques, such as lap stitching, with contemporary art. She created exceptional works with distinctive designs and a variety of themes.

Johnson identified herself as a storyteller who used art as a way of engaging with others, educating them and restoring herself. She was an engaging teaching artist wherever she instructed, including the High Museum of Art and The Great Wisconsin Quilt Show. Teaching for more than 20 years, Johnson said, “What I want to do is encourage young people to take up needles, to take up thread, and change the world with it.”

Among her accomplishments as a teacher and a quilter, she was proud to have been commissioned in 2023 to create two quilts, “Arizona Cactus Garden Daytime” and “Cactus Garden Nighttime,” for the Stanford Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto, California. Johnson was also an active participant in the National Black Arts Movement and was a National Fellow of the Kennedy Center/VSA Arts. She also overcame a spinal cord injury and was inducted into the Shepherd Center Hall of Fame.