Honorable Mention - Open
Half House Artists, Edmond

Hands a "Cross" Oklahoma

Our collage, Hands a "Cross" Oklahoma, highlights the common and unique qualities of our Oklahoma experiences with a three-part focus. The places where we live, learn, work, and play are quilted together in the background along with the faces of our diverse population. Just as a quilt is assembled by hand with the care of the quilters, our photo-quilt was carefully assembled with care given to the color, subject and pattern combinations.

In the past quilting brought women in the community together to share and learn from each other. Women learned how to quilt by passing on the skills from mother to daughter, grandmother to granddaughter. While quilting women shared stories and concerns and learned valuable lessons from each other. Tips on raising children, canning, cooking and managing a household were passed along. Quilts brought warmth and comfort to the recipient and left a legacy passed down from generation to generation. Look closely and you will see in our quilt homes, famous and common where Oklahomans live. Notice the familiar representations of some of our schools of higher learning as well as more informal venues where learning takes place, like museums and historical landmarks. From the Cox Center and Myriad Gardens in Oklahoma City to the Tulsa skyline, from Enid to Checotah, Edmond to Vinita, the State Capitol to the Museum of the Red River, our workplaces are woven into the design of the quilt. Our "playgrounds" span the state and are evident through the pictures of our water sports and lakes, our rodeo arenas, golf courses, football fields, cultural and musical events as well as the familiar Frontier City, White Water Bay and Oklahoma City Zoo.

The central focus of our collage is on the places where we pray. Local places of worship were photographed and pieced together in the same quilt pattern. We especially loved the different colors of blue that were captured in the Oklahoma sky at different times of the day. In recent years our churches have reached out to all those who were hurting and affected by 9/11 and the Oklahoma City bombing. All have offered hope and comfort to their communities. The three churches closest to the Murrah building and those most heavily damaged by the bombing are included along with the statue of Jesus weeping. Also included is the church where survivors and family members waited to hear news of the injured. The message of the cross is that of love, sacrifice, forgiveness and hope. The quilting of the church photos reminds us that the church was a favorite gathering place in the past for quilters. Women came together to pray and apply their talents toward a quilt in honor of a pastor, teacher or in memory of a member of the congregation. Even today in rural Oklahoma this practice is still a part of life in 2004.

The final focus of our collage is on the outstretched hands that embrace the cross and the rest of our lives. The hands represent the older generation reaching out to the younger generation. They represent all the things that hands do: heal, help, produce art, play music, work, play, and pray. Hands teach, create, and compete. Hands comfort, caress and encourage. Hands represent friendship and working together toward a goal as we have on this project. Notice that the hands are varied: old and young, black and white, male and female, clean and dirty. Some are empty, some hold another; some are playing and some are working. In living, learning, working, praying and playing we are always better when we are connected with others, when we are doing life together.

Hands a "Cross" Oklahoma is dedicated to one of many ministries in Oklahoma that reaches out to others in need. "The Ministries of Jesus Center in Edmond is open to everyone seeking help... young, old, rich, poor, insured and uninsured, Christian and non-Christian. The ministry consists of volunteer practitioners dedicated to the healing of the body, soul and spirit who donate their time and use their God-given talents to help those in need." Free medical and dental care, Christian counseling, food, clothing, financial assistance and prayer are offered.

Our hope for Oklahoma and this collage is that it will stand the test of time and that future generations will embrace each other and their Oklahoma heritage: the towns where they live, learn, work, pray, and play.