Art by VGCC Dean Selected for State Display

Each year, North Carolina Community College System president Martin Lancaster selects artwork submitted by the various schools in the system to display at the system’s headquarters in Raleigh for a year. This year, a piece from Vance-Granville Community College was selected for display. The piece is a quilt called “Christmas Friendship,” by Leo Kelly, Jr. of Henderson, the college’s Dean of Adult Basic Education. Kelly has worked at VGCC since September 1971.Kelly said that Christmas, his favorite time of the year, inspired this quilt. It was one of three quilts for which he cut the pieces while at home recovering from an appendectomy in the summer of 2003. Kelly has been quilting since 1995. “As Dean of Continuing Education at the time,” he recalled, “I was offering quilting classes, taught by Peggy Stocks. The night classes needed more students, and I decided to enroll myself.” Although he is not currently enrolled in a quilting class, Kelly continues to occasionally drop by classes on Thursday evenings.“I enjoy the process of designing, cutting and putting the pieces together to form perfect 12-inch squares,” Kelly said. “Quilting stimulates my creativity. I also enjoy the quiet time that quilting requires me to take. I actually slow down and get lost in the art of quilting. I’ve read that when you can get lost in something, you have truly found your hobby.”This is the first time that one of Kelly’s quilts has won a prize or official recognition, although “Christmas Friendship” was featured in the Heritage Quilters show at the Jacob Holt House in Warrenton in October 2006.Kelly’s quilt was one of the more than 150 pieces of art from 54 community colleges that were selected from thousands of submissions, according to Chancy Kapp, President Lancaster’s assistant for External Affairs.Above: VGCC Dean of Adult Basic Education Leo Kelly, Jr. of Henderson poses with his quilt, “Christmas Friendship,” which will be displayed in the Caswell Building in Raleigh, headquarters of the North Carolina Community College System, throughout 2007. (VGCC Photo)