focus on commissions
Too many bugs or too many people? Barb McKie’s dilemma by Sandra Sider
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arbara Barrick McKie, a Quilt National artist, has had work accepted into numerous national quilt competitions. She worked as an automation consultant specializing in personal computers and computer graphics, an interest she carries into her art quilts, which often feature digitally-produced surface design on fabric using her photographic images. S: Barb, we would like to learn about your art quilts commissioned for public areas in a hospital. Why do you think hospitals seem to be especially recep tive to art quilts? M: I think that people think of nature, particularly flowers, water, and maybe birds, as healing parts of the universe. Seeing them in an environment where people need to heal can help bring that about, as well as create a calming influence on visitors worrying about their loved ones in the hospital. S: You have three quilts installed at the North western Medicine Prentice Women’s Hospital in Chicago. Was that your first experience with a corporate commission? If not, what were your previous commissions? M: No, the first commissions were from individuals who contacted me via my website. The first contact from an art consulting company was from Anita Morris Associates in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, for the Crozer Chester Medical Center in Chester, Pennsylvania. They purchased two art quilts from my website in 2006 (technically not a commission). I had a one- person show at the Mancuso Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 2003, and previously had several prize-winning quilts at the Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza. Although none of them
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was among the quilts selected for the hospital, perhaps the consultant had seen my work there. S: How did the Chicago commission begin? M: In 2007 American Art Resources in Houston contacted me after seeing my website, and they arranged for Northwestern Medicine Prentice Women’s Hospital to purchase three of my quilts. I have had a fairly comprehensive artist’s website since February 2006. S: So you had one contract for three quilts. How did that work? Was a commission for American Art Resources stipulated in the contract, or did the contract stipulate only the amount that you would receive? M: I don’t believe their commission was indicated, just the amounts I would receive and at what points in the process. There were three quilts to be created, all originals, but similar to other quilts of mine that the customers had seen. S: Were you paid part of the money upon signing the contract? How were the payments allocated? M: If I remember correctly, it was a typical payment of 50% after approval of the design by the customer, and 50% plus shipping costs when an image of the finished quilt was presented to the person approving the designs and purchases. S: Were you given a specific deadline or was that more open-ended? I’m wondering how much pressure you might have been under to complete the quilts. M: There were specific deadlines.
