Woman utilizes ‘dying artform’ to take home Art is Ageless’ prize

By now, Donna Thompson should be getting used to taking home awards through PMMA’s Art is Ageless® competition—she already has quite an impressive array of purple and blue ribbons hanging from a bulletin board in her home—but the results of the 2023 competition still took her by surprise.

Donna’s quilt, “Deck the Halls,” not only won first place among amateurs in the competition’s Christmas division but was also awarded overall Best of Show.

“When they call your name to win—I don’t care if it’s a small thing or not—it means a lot. When you put in a lot of work, effort and hours into something, it means a lot,” said Donna.

The quilt combined two of Donna’s artistic passions—quilting and embroidery. The embroidery component is something she learned from her mother and has devoted more and more time to over the past last 20 years.

“I love embroidery—I also tell myself it’s an excuse because I can sit and watch TV and not feel guilty,” said Donna. “It doesn’t take me very long at all. I’m very fast—I don’t know if that’s a good thing or bad,” said Donna.

And, according to Donna, it’s an artform that over time is slowly disappearing.

“It’s a dying art,” said Donna.

In an effort to keep it alive for future generations, Donna taught both her granddaughters and great-granddaughters the skills and techniques her mother taught her.

But that doesn’t mean Donna is ready to hang things up, she already has an eye on next year’s Art is Ageless competition.

“Oh yea, I’ve even got my next entry ready!” said Donna.

To learn more about the Art is Ageless program, or to order a copy of this year’s calendar, visit artisageless.org.

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