Joanna Dermenjian holds a Master’s degree in Cultural Studies from Queen’s University and is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Modern Literature and Culture Research Centre at Toronto Metropolitan University. As a speaker, researcher, artist, and quiltmaker, Joanna explores the history of domestic textiles and the intersection of women’s voluntary textile production with periods of war or social upheaval. Her primary project explores the quilt-making operation across Canada during the Second World War, when hundreds of thousands of quilts were made by women and children and donated to the British Women’s Voluntary Service (WVS) and the Red Cross to be distributed to civilians, hospitals and soldiers in Britain and Europe.
I welcome the opportunity to present my research in the following lectures:
“Quilting as to War” – Presentation of research relating to the over 400,000 quilts made by Canadian women during the Second World War and shipped to Britain and Europe for civilian and military needs. 45 minute presentation offered virtually with slideshow showcasing some of the surviving quilts along with archival photos of the women involved in this domestic charitable work on the home front. Currently booking through January 2026 to June 2027.
“Art Quilts Across International Borders” – Presentation about quilts made in Kingston, Ontario, Canada by skilled quilters in the 1970’s, designed by artists in Los Angeles, and now in the permanent collection of the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska. Well before the term ‘Art Quilt’ began to be used in 1986, this cross border collaboration happened. How did it come to be? Who were the artists, who were the makers, and who put them all together? 45 minute presentation offered virtually with slideshow showcasing many of these quilts and the people involved in this project. Currently booking through January 2026 to June 2027.
Education
MA – Cultural Studies – Queen’s University
BA – Western University
Memberships
- American Quilt Study Group – Board of Directors
- British Quilt Study Group
- Friends of ‘Haptic and Hue’
- Frontenac Heritage Foundation
- Kingston Antiques Society
- Kingston Association of Museums, Art Galleries and Historic Sites