Marie Jeanne Welsch dreamed of being an astronaut, but she knew she would never realize that goal, because, as she writes, "I didn't have the vision or the grades."
But that didn't mean she couldn't learn everything possible about the solar system and beyond and, somehow through her artistic talent, draw other people into her favorite subject.
So, she did. And this artistic encouragement, titled "Volatility Exposed,' created through textiles, joins more than 40 other space-inspired pieces in the LSU Museum of Art's exhibit, "Fierce Planets: Work from the Studio Art Quilt Associates."
Jennifer Coghill's lab coat art, 'Inner Core/Outer Space,' hangs in the center of the gallery with mineral samples from LSU's Department Geology and Geophysics departments as its backdrop in the LSU Museum of Art's exhibit, 'Fierce Planets: Work from the Studio Art Quilt Associates.'
The show is paired with the smaller photographic exhibit, "Interior Space: Photographs by Roland Miller & Paolo Nespoli," giving visitors an inside view of the International Space Station.
Both shows run through July 28.
Still, "Fierce Planets" is the star in this museum galaxy with its celestial quilt-filled galleries. The show was curated by Studio Art Quilt Associates of Hebron, Connecticut.
Dolores Miller's 'Pale Blue Dot 2' is featured in the LSU Museum of Art's exhibit, 'Fierce Planets: Work from the Studio Art Quilt Associates.'
"They're an associate studio of quilt artists or textile artists, fiber artists," said Michelle Schulte, the museum's chief curator and director of public programs. "Every year, they put out a call for submissions for different themed exhibitions, which are are put together sent out across the world so museums can pick them up and display them."
Welsch was one of the quilters whose work was accepted into the show. The Austin, Texas, textile artist wrote of her astronaut dreams and sharing her love of space through art in the artist's statement that hangs beside her piece.
Her words seemed to best encapsulate this show, whose purpose it to educate as well as entertain.
Kathy Nida's 'I'm Floating in the Most Peculiar Way' is featured in the LSU Museum of Art's exhibit, 'Fierce Planets: Work from the Studio Art Quilt Associates.'
"We're the first venue for this show," Schulte said. "The reason why I picked this particular show for the museum is because LSU does so much work with NASA. We have so many partnerships and programs going on with NASA, and I wanted to highlight the fact that we, as a research university, are part of the space program, as well. And that's why I chose this particular work."
A walk through the LSU Museum of Art's quilt, textile and fiber art space-themed exhibit, 'Fierce Planets: Work from the Studio Art Quilt Associates.' Staff video by Robin Miller
But Schulte didn't stop with the quilts. She also partnered with LSU's department of Astrophysics and Geology and Geophysics, which helped with the exhibit's interpretation and programming.
"They also provided mineral samples for display and different scaled imaging views of some of the samples," Schulte said. "For instance, we have a microscopic view of a piece of meteorite above the display case. This is actually a view of the piece of meteorite inside the case."
Margaret Abramshe's 'A Sense of Wonder' is featured in the LSU Museum of Art's exhibit, 'Fierce Planets: Work from the Studio Art Quilt Associates.'
Included is a small vial of regolith, or simulated Martian soil.
"And so why do we need that?" Schulte asked. "Well, on campus, they're, they're doing a lot of projects with the Mars Rover, and they're also looking into creating a concrete mix with Martian soil, because when you get up to either Mars or the moon, you have to create this special soil to build roads."
Meanwhile, the LSU Department of Astronomy is planning to bring its inflatable planetarium to the galleries for programs, as well as its Mobile Astronomy Resource System, or MARS, truck outside the Shaw Center.
Claire Passmore's 'Hot Stuff' is featured in the LSU Museum of Art's exhibit, 'Fierce Planets: Work from the Studio Art Quilt Associates.'
The partnerships and programs come full circle in this show, because it's all inspired by the quilts, which are, in turn, inspired by the work of Sabine Stanley, author of "What's Hidden Inside Planets."
The LSU Museum of Art is showing the space-themed, textile art exhibit, 'Fierce Planets: Work from the Studio Art Quilt Associates,' through July 28.
"Sabine Stanley is an astrophysicist at Johns Hopkins University, and basically, the book is about how planets are sometimes created from the inside out versus the outside in," Schulte said. "But then the theme went a little wider, and artists just responded to the theme of outer space. They had well over 150 applicants that submitted works, and Sabine and two other jurors chose the works. They were J.D. Beck, the director of Culture Programs for the National Academy of Science, and Dennis Wirtz, vice provost for research at Johns Hopkins."
The result is an universe of imagination exploding in bold color from a variety of textiles. From rabbits to curious children to "lava tubes" to, yes, planets, each piece tells a story in its own little corner of this infinite place called "space."
Carolina Oneto's 'Imaginary Places IV' is featured in the LSU Museum of Art's exhibit, 'Fierce Planets: Work from the Studio Art Quilt Associates.'
That word — infinite — is probably the best description of this show, because no limit was placed on the artists' creativity.
The idea of no limitations also applied to Loren Schwerd's students, who were asked to design an installation for the adjoining Community Gallery to complement "Fierce Planets."
Schwerd is an associate professor in LSU's College of Art and Design.
Julie Coffman's 'Rabbit in the Moon,' is featured in the LSU Museum of Art's exhibit, 'Fierce Planets: Work from the Studio Art Quilt Associates.'
"She integrated a site-specific project into her spring coursework," Schulte said. "Her students were to design and install a sculpture inspired by the cosmos and the Fierce Planets theme, and this is really a great work for this space."
The result is a soft sculpture network of woven netting, titled "Corridors," illustrating the Einstein-Rosen Bridge theory that proposes the existence of bridges or wormholes that join distant points in the universe, thereby creating a shortcut through the fabric of space and time.
"I also commissioned a digital arts student at LSU to create an animation for the exhibit's title," Schulte said. "We'd usually use vinyl for the title, but I wanted something more modern for this show. And I thought, 'Why not project it on a quilt?'"
Paula Rafferty's 'Storm' is featured in the LSU Museum of Art's exhibit, 'Fierce Planets: Work from the Studio Art Quilt Associates.'
Why not, indeed?
"I'm really trying to engage the students more and give them solid projects that they can put on their resumes," Schulte said. "And I'm trying to talk the Studio Art Quilt Associates into taking this animation with them when they show this exhibit at other venues."
For now, "Fierce Planets," with all of its added extras from LSU's art and science departments, makes its home in the LSU Museum of Art, where Welsch's vision of inspiring others to learn about space through her art is coming true.
LSU Art and Design students in Associate Professor Loren Schwerd's classes designed the installation, 'Corridors,' to complement the LSU Museum of Art's exhibit, 'Fierce Planets: Work from the Studio Art Quilt Associates.'
"Fierce Planets: Work from the Studio Art Quilt Associates" shows through July 28 at the LSU Museum of Art. Hours are 10 a.m.-8 pm. Tuesday through Friday; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday; and 1-5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $5 for ages 13 and older; and free for children age 12 and younger, university students with ID and veterans and their families with ID. For more information, call (225) 389-7200 or visit lsumoa.org.