December 1, 2021

Gregory retiring after 16 years with quilt museum

Jonathan Gregory

Gregory

Jonathan Gregory will retire on Dec. 3 after serving 16 years at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

Gregory started as a graduate assistant in the textiles, merchandising and fashion design. He has worked in a professional curatorial role at the International Quilt Museum.

“My time at the University of Nebraska and career at the International Quilt Museum is the realization of dreams and goals I set out to accomplish nearly two decades ago,” Gregory said. “These years have been personally and professionally rewarding.”

Gregory was part of the opening team of the then International Quilt Study Center and Museum in 2008 and has since worked as the assistant curator of exhibitions. A few of the notable exhibitions he has curated include: “Covering the War: American Quilts in Times of Conflict,” “The Engineer Who Could: Ernest Haight’s Half Century of Quiltmaking,” and “Abstract Design in American Quilts at 50: Raising the Profile.”

He also curated or worked on poignant exhibitions such as “Los Desconocidos/The Unknowns,” “Hostile Terrain 94” and “Trying to Make Sense of It: 9/11, Loss, and Memorial Quilts.”

Gregory earned a master’s degree in textile history with an emphasis in quilt studies from University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2007 and a doctorate in human sciences with a specialization in textiles, also from Nebraska U, in 2015. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in human resources from Friends University, Wichita, Kansas.

Gregory is co-editor of “World Quilts: The American Story” and is a contributing author to various International Quilt Museum publications including “Abstract Design in American Quilts at 50” (2021), “What’s in a Name” (2012), “American Quilts in the Modern Age, 1870-1940” (2009), and “Pojagi: Patchwork from Korea” (2008).

Gregory said moments he will treasure most from his years at the International Quilt Museum are the personal and professional relationships forged over the years.