Hosmer Gallery

In this installation, the Arts and Music reading room will be transformed into an interactive, homey space, full of furniture, decor, everyday items, and books!  Everything in the room is second-hand, salvaged, thrifted or recycled–and altered by being covered in cozy stuffed animals.  This ongoing, ever-growing project brings new life to discarded items, and keeps everyday “stuff” out of the waste stream a little while longer.  Gallery goers and library patrons are invited to spend time in the installation, find a cozy chair, read the books, pick up, touch, and interact with the whole exhibit!

There will also be an ongoing “leave some stuffies / take some stuffies” program and we invite young people and their parents to bring in stuffed animals they have outgrown, and maybe find a new animal friend to take home!

“A kaleidoscope of colors…Acrylic on canvas with phantasy images of nature, landscapes, flowers, animals, musicians, jesters…carrying the eye with a sub-current of color ‘notes’ rifting in different tonal directions…”

Laura C. Davis is exhibiting a selection of recent improvisational quilts at the Hosmer Gallery in September. She is a contemporary quilter who works with second-hand garments, repurposed home textiles, and thrifted fabrics. Her work explores the tension between structure and flexibility, order and chaos, and trash and treasure while honoring traditions of improvisational quilting, textile reuse, and domestic labor.

Laura works without patterns, allowing each composition to emerge organically through color, texture, and intuition. Embracing asymmetry and surprise, she intentionally avoids perfection and rigidity, choosing instead to celebrate variation and unpredictability. Each quilt becomes a conversation with materials that have already lived other lives.

Creating quilts from discarded textiles is an act of transformation and care. Laura’s practice is rooted in sustainability, offering a counterpoint to our culture’s demand for the new and the fast. She is drawn to the possibility of turning the overlooked and unremarkable into objects that are beautiful, meaningful, and enduring.

Laura began hand stitching before kindergarten and learned to use a sewing machine at age seven. The technical skills passed on to her now support work that transmits warmth and connection. Though her quilts may hang as art, she hopes they are touched, washed, and loved for generations.