Quilt shows

Thursday evening I attended a lecture and show of the work done by the Glacier Grannies in support of the Stephan Lewis Foundation. This action is in support of the grandmothers in Africa who are in the position of having to raise their grandchildren, who are orphans of the AIDS/HIV epidemic. These quilts were all original designs that took their inspiration from pictures or concepts related this disaster that is taking place as we speak. Some very beautiful and thought provoking works.
It took place in the Bay store downtown. My observation was that there were more people at the lecture and show than in the entire rest of the building--and the store was open. Saturday I volunteered at a local art gallery where there is a very low profile quilt exhibiiton. During the five hours I was there 47 people came through, when the average daily attendance is more like 6-8. These people didn't just wander through. They talked, and asked questions. In this very small gallery, some of them stayed for more than an hour. And gratifying to me, the most interest was shown in the art quilts.
Now--I know several local art quilters, and only a small portion of those exhibit their work--in other than guild shows. Why couldn't someone organize a local art quilt exhibit? The interest is obviously there. This is "hot stuff" right now.
There is another side to this. While viewing the exhibit onThursday evening, a friend and I were discussing the wide range of skill that was obvious in the smaller venue, both having seen a preview of that show. One of the people who visited the gallery yesterday, was someone whose work, on exhibition, was not , IMHO, gallery quality. I talked with this woman at length and was blown away by her interest in learning more. She is very anxous to improve her knowledge of the techiques used in art quilting, and equally anxious to find out about opportunities for classes etc. Based on many of the questions I was asked, I don't think she was the only one. How does one "mine" this opportunity?