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There are over 600,000 images in The New York Public Library Digital Gallery! The Gallery helps to fulfill the “traditional goal” of The Library “to select, collect, preserve and make accessible the accumulated wisdom of the world, without distinction as to income, religion, nationality, or other human condition.” The Gallery offers “digital images of drawings, illuminated manuscripts, maps, photographs, posters, prints, rare illustrated books, and more.

While the site explains that images an be freely downloaded for personal, research, and study purposes only, their User’s Guide includes detailed information on their terms for commercial use. In part: “As the physical rights holder of this material, most of which is in the public domain for copyright purposes, the Library charges a usage fee to license an image for commercial use.”

The collection include images relating to applied sciences, fine and decorative arts, history, performing arts, and social sciences and include drawings, illuminated manuscripts, maps, photographs, posters, prints, rare illustrated books, and so on.

I came across this website and believe other art quilt makers may find it valuable.

The Artists Rights Society (ARS) “is the preeminent copyright, licensing, and monitoring organization for visual artists in the United States. Founded in 1987, ARS represents the intellectual property rights interests of over 30,000 visual artists and estates of visual artists from around the world (painters, sculptors, photographers, architects and others).” Click here to learn more.

In today’s mail I received a complimentary copy of The Quilter’s Catalog, a Comprehensive Resource Guide, by Meg Cox. I am very honored to have two quilts included in the book, Color Fields I on page 178 and Squared Illusions IV on page 31. I’m also featured in a two-spread on pages 178-179 called Early Days: The Internet Quilting Pioneers and have a mention on the bottom of page 181 into 182 and 261. It’s extremely flattering to read “Computer guru and art quilter Gloria Hansen also posts frequently on the Quiltart list, so when members need advice on how to print fabric in their computers (okay … they really don’t print fabric IN their computers <g>) or what software to use for quilt design, they can get advice for a top expert.” There are many very talented quiltmakers mentioned and giving advice in this book, and I’m very humbled  to be among them.

This nearly 600 page tome is jammed with a mind-boggling wealth of a broad range of information. And for a $18.95 price, less on Amazon, it’s a no-brainer to add to the bookshelf. I wrote a longer review, which you can read here.

In the monthly Professional Quilter newsletter, there was a blurb on a pending bill that would allow artists to take a fair market value deduction for works given to and retained by nonprofit institutions.

If you’d like to see this bill passed, click here: where you can email/write members of congress.