“Winter Along the River” by Carolyn Abbott The Museum and Arts Center in the Sequim-Dungeness Valley is offering a feast for the eyes and hearts this January with a joint art exhibit and Sequim Food Bank benefit.The “Quilts as Art” invitational and “Empty Bowls” exhibit opens Tuesday, Jan. 4, at the MAC Exhibit Center, 175 W. Cedar St. in Sequim. The exhibit features more than 15 art quilts skillfully crafted by North Olympic Peninsula-area art quilters, which will adorn the walls of the MAC Exhibit Center, while one-of-a-kind handmade bowls donated by local artists will be displayed and sold for a set donation to benefit the Sequim Food Bank.

Differing from traditional quilts, which emphasize functionality, art quilts are created solely for artistic display and as a means of self-expression.

“Quilting as art took place when quilts transitioned from being the utilitarian warm and cozy bed quilt to something that the artist wanted to show off on her living room wall,” said artist Sherry Nagel, whose art quilts will be on display and who is donating a fabric bowl for the benefit. “It’s not your grandmother’s quilt. We use the materials we’re drawn to and new materials are coming about all the time. We’re just evolving.”

Fabric bowl by Sherry Nagel

“Small Treasures” by Mary Marsh

For the “Empty Bowls” benefit, artists were asked to create bowls out of any material they wished and donations include bowls made of ceramics, paper, fibers, glass and pottery. The bowls will be available for purchase starting at 5 p.m. Friday, Jan. 7, as part of the First Friday Art Walk.

“Normally people donate to the food bank during the holidays, in November and December, and we want to fill in the gap,” said MAC art exhibits coordinator Linda Stadtmiller of the January exhibit. “People can get a lovely piece of original artwork while helping those in need locally.”

An artists’ reception for this joint exhibit, which will include soup and bread refreshments befitting the occasion, is from 5-8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 7, at the MAC Exhibit Center. The exhibit and bowl sale benefit runs through Jan. 29 and the MAC also will collect donations of packaged and canned foods, and household paper products for the Sequim Food Bank through that date.

For more information about this joint exhibit, call the MAC Exhibit Center at 683-8110 or visit www.mac

sequim.org.