byCONTRAST: Apparent Contradictions

Our 2026 art exhibition season begins with a festival of color and texture as we welcome the quilt show byCONTRAST: Apparent Contradictions, a regional juried exhibition presented in coordination with Studio Art Quilt Associates NY+NJ. Watch for our Opening Reception Saturday, January 10; 2-4 p.m. TMS members free; non-members $10

For byCONTRAST, the second exhibition by the SAQA NJ+NY region, artists created and submitted work exploring contrasts found in everyday expressions. The selected entries examine seemingly contradictory or incongruous figures of speech used for dramatic, humorous, or ironic effect. The show was juried by acclaimed fiber artist Ann Johnston, whose experimentation with dye and fabric has led to numerous exhibitions worldwide, including over twenty solo exhibits and multiple publications. The exhibition features thirty SAQA fiber artists.

Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc., is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the art quilt: “a creative visual work that is layered and stitched or that references this form of stitched layered structure.” Over the past 35 years, SAQA has grown into a dynamic and active community of over 4,000 artists, curators, collectors, and art professionals located around the world. The first byCONTRAST exhibition garnered praise in 2023 and 2024 in the New York locales of Old Forge, Binghamton, and Ossining. Beginning at Rochester Contemporary Art Center in September 2025, the show continued in the fall to the View Arts Center, Old Forge, NY, and, following the Trenton City Museum, will head to the Genesee Valley QuiltFest, Rochester, NY, and Bethany Arts Community Ossining, NY, in spring 2026.