Help keep quilt artist in the US
 

British-born textile artist & quilter, Kate Cox, featured in Episode 605 on The Quilt Show: Improvisational Landscapes, needs your help. Kate, who now lives in Colorado and is known to be inspired by the American landscape, has a serious O-1 Visa issue. This is an Artist visa. Apparently, the US Embassy doesn't believe being a renowned quilter and textile artist is real art.


Kate's story (paraphrased):
I was in London for the first time in 7 years to visit my children and I had to go renew my O-1 visa at the US Embassy. I have a lawyer in Denver who deals with all this and all the paperwork had been submitted and we did not expect any problems.
However, when I got there for my interview it was very clear from the outset that the woman interviewing me was not friendly to say the least. She began by asking me what I did,
I said, "Fiber Artist."
"What's that?" she said.
"Textile Art," I replied, "making art from fabrics, fibers, other mediums."
So she said, "You mean 'Quilting'!" in a very scathing voice. It went downhill from there.
She eventually told me that she was recommending that my visa be revoked because my work was not of a high enough 'standard' because I could not sell it for $100,000s of dollars.
Even though Kate creates and teaches quilting and works with the Denver Art Museum, she is now being asked to pack up her goods and return to Great Britain.

The Quilt Show is starting a petition to help Kate stay in America and to let them know that our art is to be respected.

Pls click the link and add your name to the petition.

http://www.thequiltshow.com/os/blog.php/blog_id/5856

As long as I live, I will not understand the rules of immigration.

With the hoards coming over the border, on American over taxed, almost broken backs????... THIS has been done to an outstanding, tax paying, productive woman? Petition signed!

Will sign the petition. Anyone else can throw mud together or solder some ugly a** metal into something you can't figure what it's suppose to be and that's art, but men and women who create pieces of art with any fiber are not considered artists and usually we have a personal connection. Many "artists" tell people they tried to show what they were trying to express. With quilting, it's pretty easy to see and not hard to figure, but it's considered craft.

Petition signed, unfortunately nothing involved with government "rules and regulations" surprises me.

Sounds like some of the parts that were paraphrased out might be meaningful. This doesn't seem like the whole story.

and that is why as you already said---we should be in charge!!! hahaha

I'd like to get hold of that person and make them do their job correctly. millions of illegals here and most are known to them yet they do nothing!! Grrrr. don't get me started. I do hope things work out for her.

My only problem with petitions, they don't work. Number 2, why didn't she petition to become a citizen? Does she just want to live here, with all the benefits but not become a citizen? Just my opinion. Thousands of illegals are here because they overstayed their Visa, does it make them a bad person? No, but rules are rules and the law is the law.

I did not post this as an indictment against the govt or govt employees... Only that this one particular person who has the authority to deny this visa does not recognize quilting as an art. She obviously knows little about the craft and maybe some education is all she needs. The petition is to provide support for our contention that quilting is indeed art and thus possibly provide basis for a new ruling.

If I had not accidentally stumbled into a quilting group, I might be of the same opinion. I was astounded to see what quilters are doing.