Exhibitions

KRISTY MOELLER OTTINGER: SPIRITUAL CONVERSATION

Reece Museum (ETSU) / 363 Stout Dr., Johnson City, TN September 21, 2026 - January 8, 2027 (Reception: October 8 5:00pm - 7:00pm)

Kristy Moeller Ottinger

An exhibition of narrative art quilts that marries the practices of quilting and storytelling, by artist Kristy Moeller Ottinger, is on display at the Reece Museum at East Tennessee State University. Spiritual Conversation: Storytelling Through Art Quilts is on display now through Jan. 8, 2027. A reception for the exhibition will be held on Thursday, Oct. 8 from 5 to 7 p.m., and will include an artist talk with Ottinger.

Spiritual Conversation features 45 fiber works by Ottinger. Intricately designed textile wall hangings and books narrate themes in spirituality and illustrate how stories are passed down from one generation to the next. Ottinger’s visionary fiber works showcase meticulous sewing skill and an imaginative incorporation of found objects.

“I explore the effects of diverse, colorful patterned fabrics and push the use of embellishments,” Ottinger said. “I intend for the audience to engage, find words and hidden meanings in my quilts.”

Kristy Moeller Ottinger was born in Tipton, Indiana. She is the older of two girls born to Herbert and Lucy Moeller, who raised their children to be resourceful and — it turns out — creative. If they wanted something, they were encouraged to create it themselves. Making was a part of life in the Moeller household, where Herbert was a cabinetmaker and Lucy a dressmaker. At the tender age of nine, Ottinger began learning the sewing skills that would lead to her eventual focus on fiber art. A lifelong learner, Ottinger earned degrees in Bible, education, and art. She taught elementary school art until 2016, when she began to pursue her art full time.

Best known for her narrative art quilts, Ottinger embellishes her work relentlessly, using found objects, mixed media, embroidery, paint, and writing. As she moved through her formal art education, Ottinger dabbled in other media, eventually earning an MFA in painting. A 1994 scholarship to Burren College of Art in Ireland introduced her to an Irish quilter who provided bits of silk for her initial art quilt. Her first love reawakened, Ottinger returned to fiber art. Now, her exquisitely detailed narrative quilts show her artful, thorough sewing skill, as well as demonstrating her talent for incorporating any mixed media that enhances the stories told through her work.

“Making art is my form of worship,” Ottinger said. “Every creation is a spiritual conversation. Each bead sewn or found object attached comes with a prayer.”