Michael James: Past Forward
Mon, Jul 27
|Zoom Presentation
Michael will talk about some of his work, past, present and future, and reflect on the work of hands and its meaning in the 21st century.


Time & Location
Jul 27, 2026, 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM CDT
Zoom Presentation
About the Event
Michael James got serious about creating a work life in the quilt domain in 1974, when he was just 25 and only a year out of an MFA program. When he started out, the quilt world as we know it today was a much smaller place, and neither he nor that quilt world had any inkling that it would get the traction that it generated from the moment of the US Bicentennial. The rest is history as they say. Michael will talk about some of his work, past, present and future, and reflect on the work of hands and its meaning in the 21st century.
A Massachusetts native, Michael lives and maintains a studio in Lincoln, NE. From 2005 to 2020 he chaired the Department of Textiles, Merchandising & Fashion Design at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, whose faculty he first joined in 2000 after years as a freelance, independent maker.…