The Quilters Hall of Fame

926 S. Washington St.
Marion, IN 46953
ph: 765-664-9333
quiltershalloffame@sbcglobal.net

Celebration

Jean Wells Keenan of Sisters, Oregon Selected for Induction 2010

The Quilters Hall of Fame (TQHF) is pleased to announce the selection of Jean Wells Keenan of Sisters, Oregon, as the 40th Honoree to be inducted into the Quilters Hall of Fame. Induction will take place in July 2010. Jean Wells Keenan has been active for almost three decades as a noted quiltmaker, author, show-designer, teacher and entrepreneur. Staying on top of a fast-paced and changing retail business for three decades, while working successfully to pass responsibility on to the next generation, is one of her outstanding accomplishments.

In 1975 Keenan opened on the first quilt shops in the U.S. and simultaneously hung the first Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, hanging just 12 quilts that first year. In 1980 the Quilters Affair was added to the Quilt Show events, offering a wide variety of classes and workshops to the schedule. Today more than 1200 quilts and some 1600 students come in from all over the world, requiring 3,000 hours of help from some 800 volunteers - in a town of only 1300 citizens. Keenan has set the bar high in how to enroll a whole community in the wide-ranging benefits of quilting. The Sisters Outdoor Show has become a community-supported event - bringing an estimated 15,000-20,000 visitors in one weekend. The show is supported financially by the community of Sisters - almost every merchant in town being a Show sponsor and hundreds of citizens volunteering, from young people to grandparents - most not even quilters. The Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce honored Keenan's commitment to the community by presenting her the Business of the Year Award in 1999 and Citizen of the Year in 2008. In addition, Keenan helped set up a non-profit corporation to manage the show and related events for the benefit of the Sisters community and school groups, and to educate the public about the art of quilting.

Keenan has been a vital part of an a major player in today's evolving "quilt world," with its far-reaching impact on commerce, manufacturing, and technology, as well as on the beauty and aesthetics of this well love art form. She has traveled around the world to teach both quilting and the business of successful quilt shop management. In 1998 Keenan was named recipient of the Michael Kile Award for Lifetime Achievement, the highest award that the quilting business industry gives, and was the first quilt shop to be inducted into the Independent Retailer Hall of Fame in 1997.

Keenan has had a life-long commitment to education, earning her BS in Home Economics Education from Oregon State University, 1965, then her MS in Guidance and Counseling from Portland State University, 1969. She taught high school home economics from 1965-1973, the last four years as Home Economics Chairman for the Beaverton, Oregon School District.

Please join us in celebrating Jean Wells Keenan's induction by joining us in July 2010 for lectures, workshops, multiple quilt exhibits, vendors mall, tours of The Quilters Hall of Fame and special Induction Ceremonies.