Lauren Kingsland

About the Artist

"My mission is to promote quilts as an art medium with my own work and through lectures, workshops and individual teaching." Lauren Kingsland is well-known for repurposing garments of sentimental value to create quilts to honor life transitions. She holds a masters degree in Applied Healing Arts from the Maryland University of Integrative Health, formerly Tai Sophia Institute, with special emphasis the healing benefits of artistic expression as part of the interrelationship of mind-body-spirit. She is a lecturer and workshop leader about quilts in service of community, healing, and contemplative practice for the Arts & Humanities program at Georgetown University Medstar Hospital, Smithsonian Studio Arts, George Washington University Art Therapy program,  John C. Campbell Folk School, and quilt guilds, civic groups, & church retreats. Professional Positions * Smithsonian Resident Associates Studio Arts program faculty * Visiting Artist, Arts & Humanities program, Lombardi Cancer Center, Medstar Georgetown University Hospital. Washington, D.C. Offering expressive art experiences in fiber and other media with patients and caregivers, since 1998. *Studio Artist in Residence,  Sandy Spring Museum, Sandy Spring MD. 2012 - present *Artist-in-Residence at the Gaithersburg Arts Barn, Gaithersburg, MD, July 2002- Sept. 2012.   Public participation quilts and private commissions. * Sacred Threads Biennial Juried Quilt Exhibition 2013 -17, organizing committee and catalog editor on themes of healing, grief, joy, peace, inspiration and spirituality. Lauren's art quilts are in public and private collections throughout the region.  A 2017 retrospective exhibit of her work at Iona Senior Services in Washington D.C. featured 100 quilts spanning her whole career.  Other exhibit venues have included Glenview Mansion in Rockville, MD, Arts on the Green in Gaithersburg, MD, Georgetown University Hospital, the VA Hospital, Washington, DC, Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC, Takoma Park, MD Atrium Gallery, and the Sandy Spring Museum, Sandy Spring, MD.

Artist's Statement

Artist's Statement - “Quiltmaking is an analogy for a well-lived life. Beauty and order can be part of each day through the creative use of the materials at hand, both literally in shapes of cloth and figuratively through mindful living. While honoring its roots as a traditional domestic textile, today’s quilts are a powerful art medium for connection - with one’s self, between individuals and in communities.”