Reflecting a lifetime of work, Diana Whitmer Francko’s exhibition, “Impressions in Quilt and Watercolor,” captures her experimental nature and expertise in watercolor and textiles. In this exhibition, Francko challenges herself to bring watercolor sketches from nature to life on textiles.

Francko began her artistic journey with watercolor in high school, eventually branching out to enameling and metalsmithing in college and graduate school. She explored ancient cultural narratives in her early work and earned her M.F.A. in Jewelry and Metals in 1980 from Michigan State University. 

In the 1990s, Francko transitioned into quilting, specializing in Native American imagery, often including metal and stone embellishments on her quilts. Later in her career, after traversing France on a river tour, her work became heavily inspired by Monet’s watercolor works. Using her watercolors as inspirational sketches she then crafted quilts in a impressionistic style.