Manitoulin Circle Project

The Manitoulin Circle Project

Click on the title above to go to a blog about the project.  The first post has a full view and a detail of each of the four panels.

The project consists of the creation of four large meditation panels, made with recycled linen damask tablecloths and hand stitching by the community under the leadership of artist, Judy Martin.  The Project took place between October 2009 and August 2013, meeting every Thursday in the Little Current United Church hall on Manitoulin Island.

144 participants have stitched on or otherwise helped in the creation of the panels. These links will take you to each panel.
Earth Ark
Mended World
Precious Water
Layers of Time

September 13 - October 27 2013, the four panels were featured in the Thunder Bay Art Gallery's exhibition of Judy Martin's work entitled MENDED WORLD.  The same exhibit traveled to the Art Gallery of Sudbury January 19 - March 2,  2014.   During October 2014, the four panels were displayed at the Espanola Fibre Festival, and Judy Martin was the keynote speaker.  In November 2014, the four panels were featured in the World of Threads Festival in Oakville Ontario and in May 2015, they were shown at the Homer Watson gallery in Kitchener.  A catalogue about the project and the exhibition was published by the Thunder Bay Art Gallery with a critical essay by Dr. Elizabeth Kalbfleisch.  It is possible for anyone to view the four meditation panel/quilts on the Manitoulin Circle Project as they are permanently installed in the sanctuary of the Little Current United Church on Manitoulin Island.  

There are one hundred blog posts about the project on Judy's Journal.
Click on  Blog Posts about the Manitoulin Circle Project

In 2015, a slow stitch group began to meet on Thursday afternoons at the United Church hall 1 -4 pm to create personal meditation panels but for a variety of reasons, the group disbanded after a few months.  Read more about this here and also here.

In October 2015 Judy taught a three day workshop based on the meditation panels at Fibre Arts Newfoundland in Gros Morne, Newfoundland.  For a day by day description of that workshop, click here.  For an interview with Judy about her teaching ideology, click here.
In August 2018 Judy taught a workshop about the techniques of the meditation panels in Elliot Lake Ontario. 

The Manitoulin Circle Project is featured in Claire Wellesley Smith's book Slow Stitch.  Read more about that here.

The quilt Mended World was on tour 2015 - 2021 in an group exhibition entitled Masterworks: Abstract and Geometric curated by Martha Sielman.  Martha also wrote a book entitled Art Quilts International: Abstract and Geometric that includes a feature on Judy Martin.  Find out more about that book here.   The Mended World Quilt returned to Manitoulin in June of 2021 and was re-installed in the church sanctuary in January 2022.  A local newspaper article about the 2022 return is here.  

Mended World