In Kansas City: A Quilted History, Rachel Hubbard Kline pieces together Kansas City’s rich history through archived newspaper stories and traditional quilt patterns. The colorful ceramic tile installation sources quilt patterns published in the Kansas City Star between 1928 to 1961 and from her collection of ancestral quilts. Hubbard Kline researched historical events through archives of the Kansas City Star and the Kansas City Times, featuring topics such as mayoral elections, sporting victories, river floods, and cultural stories. Through a process of transferring laser engraving onto clay slabs, the stories of our great city are emblazoned in heirloom patterns and colors. The resulting relief texture, though subtle, preserves Kansas City’s history for generations. Hubbard Kline blends the artful quilt patterns with the historic events, strengthening and preserving the bond between the cultures of home and of the city. “Rain Drop” represents river floods, “Four-Leaf Clover” references riverboat gambling and The Woodlands racetrack, “Many Roads to the White House” symbolizes Harry Truman’s presidential election, “Economy” speaks to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, and “Tumbling Blocks” laments the 1981 Hyatt Regency skywalk collapse.
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