The Boston Globe

He was an MVP basketball player. Now his star is rising as an art quilter

Michael C. Thorpe’s wildest dreams are coming true.

It didn’t take long. The former basketball star at Emerson College traded his ball for a long-arm quilting machine and became an art quilter. His career is soaring off the launchpad.

 

“He is an amazing portrait artist. He clearly has an affinity for his subjects,” said Jennifer Swope, associate curator in the MFA’s Textile & Fashion Arts Department and organizer of “Fabric of a Nation.” “He’s making these line drawings with stitching, changing the color of the thread to create visual depth. And he’s not afraid of color and pattern.”

 

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April 15, 2021
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