Current Exhibits

Liz Alpert Fay’s Ordinary/Extraordinary Women

August 20–November 15, 2026

Liz Alpert Fay’s Ordinary/Extraordinary Women is the culmination of an astonishing twenty-year engagement to honor the women who have impacted her life and work through rug hooking. The collection comprises seventeen life-size and larger hooked portraits of Alpert Fay's daughter, friends, and influences; the tallest is eight feet tall. In 2004, Alpert Fay captured Ruth Spring, a 92-year-old naturalist, landscape painter, organic gardener, and “inspiration to all who knew her.” Encouraged, she embarked on a journey to hook sixteen more women, including one of herself.

Each portrait captures the women's essential qualities while incorporating Alpert Fay's keen understanding of materiality, design, color, and scale. Some rugs are more symbolic, while others picture intangible traits uncovered through interviews she conducted with each subject. Ruth Spring is warm and welcoming, with a basket of vegetables at her feet. Sherry Paisley is depicted in bold, dark lettering, with witticisms by the sitter. The portrayal of her daughter is based on a self-portrait Chelsea Fay drew in high school. Creating the rug allowed her to empathize with her daughter's experience, and she deliberately hand-dyed all the textiles to match the original palette.

If portraiture is a way of glimpsing the subject, then Ordinary/Extraordinary Women leaves an indelible impression. Alpert Fay chose to complete the final work, an image of herself incorporating wool from each woman, before exhibiting the series in its totality. The works in this exhibition linger long after one has experienced them.

Generously supported by a grant from Joyce Krueger.

Rebound, Renew, Reimagine: Quilts from the Manhattan Quilters Guild

August 20–November 15, 2026

The artists of the Manhattan Quilters Guild present new work that celebrates a return to pre-COVID life. We have rebounded from the restrictions that limited personal contact and have renewed activities that were not possible during the pandemic. Each of the MQG artists participating in REBOUND - RENEW - REIMAGINE created a new quilt designed to be defined by a title beginning with “re.”

Some artists used visual impressions of New York City as a design source, while others focused on the use of specific materials to create their designs. Some took inspiration from previous work of their own, reconfiguring older work to create new imagery. A meditation on personal memories or emotions inspired some artists, while others used solitude to contemplate color, texture, or process.

These eighteen quilts demonstrate the diversity of our individual styles, limited only by the uniformity of their size: 40” x 40”. They illustrate our commitment to our art, our ability to reinvent how we work, and our efforts to emerge stronger after the challenges of recent years.