Studio Art Quilt Associates

What Studio Art Quilt Associates does

Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization founded in 1989 and incorporated in Connecticut, USA, dedicated to promoting the art quilt as a fine art medium. SAQA operates a horizontal community platform serving four primary customer segments: art quilters and fiber artists (primary persona segment), art collectors, museums/galleries/quilt venues, and quilt guilds and art organizations. The organization is led by Executive Director Martha Sielman and Board President Lilo Bowman, with a volunteer-driven Regional Representative network and standing committees covering Conferences, Education, Exhibitions, Finance, and the Juried Artist Program.

SAQA's product surface spans exhibitions, publications, education, mentorship, and commerce. Core offerings include the SAQA Global Exhibitions program (museum-quality traveling shows that have reached over 250 venues across 6 continents), the Virtual Gallery Program (online-only exhibitions), the SAQA Journal (a members-only quarterly publication with 35+ volumes), the SAQA Trunk Show program (~400 pieces available for rental to venues), Benefit and Spotlight Auctions (annual fundraising events), Textile Talks (a free weekly webinar series co-produced with International Quilt Museum, Quilt Alliance, and Surface Design Association, averaging 400-500 live attendees and 1,700+ YouTube views per episode since launching in April 2020), the SAQA Mentorship Program (free to members), the Juried Artist Program (professional designation), the Resource Library, the Fiber Art Friday newsletter, and an Annual Conference. The technology stack is a web-based platform with Airtable for submission management, Zoom for webinars, and YouTube for recorded content — commodity SaaS tools rather than proprietary technology.

The business model is diversified nonprofit revenue: annual membership dues (subscription recurring), exhibition entry fees ($50 USD for up to 3 entries with $10 early bird discount, transaction-based), Trunk Show rentals ($75 member / $150 non-member per booking), Spotlight and Benefit Auction proceeds (Spotlight raised over $25,000 in 2026), SAQA Journal member subscriptions, and an online store for member artwork sales. Distribution channels include an e-commerce storefront, museum and gallery exhibition partnerships, virtual online galleries, traveling trunk shows rented to venues, and direct membership sales. Geographic reach spans the USA, Canada, the UK, France, Australia, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan.

Name

Studio Art Quilt Associates

Legal name

Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc.

Website

https://saqa.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Studio Art Quilt Associates is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1989 that promotes art quilts as fine art through a global membership platform serving fiber artists, collectors, museums, and guilds via traveling exhibitions, a quarterly journal, weekly Textile Talks webinars, auctions, mentorship, and the Trunk Show rental program reaching 250+ venues across 6 continents.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Art Membership Organization

NAICS

Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813), Professional Organizations (81392)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Visual Arts (Drawing, Painting, Illustration) (EDAAAGAA)

Keywords

• Art quilt exhibitions
• Fiber art community
• Art quilt publications
• Artist membership programs
• Traveling quilt exhibitions

Headquarters

HQ city

Storrs Mansfield

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership fees provide access to resources, exhibitions, mentorship, the SAQA Journal, and member-only content. Membership is available at various levels.
2. Exhibition Entry Fees: Fees for entering SAQA Global Exhibitions, Virtual Galleries, and Regional exhibitions. Entry fees are typically $50 USD for up to 3 entries for Global exhibitions, with early bird discounts available.
3. Spotlight Auction: Annual online auction featuring over 350 pieces of artwork, raising over $25,000 in 2026 to support SAQA programs.
4. Benefit Auction: Annual premier fundraising event where artists donate 12x12-inch art quilts. All proceeds support exhibition programs, publications, and education outreach.
5. Trunk Show Rentals: Traveling trunk shows featuring 25-30 mounted art quilts are rented to venues, guilds, and museums. Rental fee is $75 for members and $150 for non-members, covering shipping both ways.
6. SAQA Journal: Members-only quarterly publication covering 35 years of archives. Recent issues include SAQA Journal 2026 Vol. 36.
7. Online Store: E-commerce platform for purchasing member artwork directly from the SAQA website.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) is a nonprofit membership organization that promotes the art quilt as a fine art medium. It operates a global exhibition program that brings museum-quality contemporary art quilts to venues on six continents, publishes a quarterly members-only journal, runs the Juried Artist Program, offers mentorship, produces weekly Textile Talks webinars, and conducts annual Benefit and Spotlight Auctions to support its programs.

Product overview

Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) is a membership-based nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the art quilt as a fine art medium. The organization operates as a unified platform offering exhibition programs, publications, education, and community resources. The core offerings include SAQA Global Exhibitions (traveling museum shows), the Virtual Gallery Program (online exhibitions), SAQA Journal (quarterly members-only publication), SAQA Trunk Show (rental traveling collections), Benefit and Spotlight Auctions (fundraising events), Textile Talks (weekly co-presented webinars), SAQA Seminar (educational archives), Mentorship Program (peer mentoring), Juried Artist Program (professional designation), Educational Videos/Webinars, Resource Library, Fiber Art Friday newsletter, and an Annual Conference. These products collectively serve artists seeking exhibition opportunities, professional development, mentorship, and community connection within the art quilt and fiber art field.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SAQA Global Exhibition: A museum-quality exhibition program featuring contemporary art quilts traveling to venues worldwide.
• SAQA Virtual Gallery
• Textile Talks
• SAQA Journal
• Benefit Auction
• Spotlight Auction
• SAQA Trunk Show
• SAQA Seminar
• Juried Artist Program (JAM)
• SAQA Mentorship Program
• Fiber Art Friday

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 250 venues on 6 continents reached with exhibitions
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered notable and core.

• American Association of WoodturnersnotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint exhibition partnership for Nature's Canvas at Windgate Museum of Art in Conway, Arkansas. The exhibition celebrates artistic expression through wood and fibers, combining SAQA's art quilts with woodturning art from the AAW.
• International Quilt MuseumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Textile Talks weekly online presentations and panel discussions, bringing fiber art education to global audiences every Wednesday at 2pm ET.
• Quilt AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Textile Talks weekly online presentations, contributing content and audience to the collaborative fiber art education program.
• Surface Design AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Textile Talks weekly online presentations, co-producing fiber art content and expanding reach across the textile art community.
• Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Art InstitutenotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative partner for Desert Stories SAQA Global Exhibition, opening February 2028 at the museum in Tucson, Arizona. The exhibition will travel until December 2030 and explores desert ecosystems and life.
• Festival of Quilts (UK)notableChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHost venue for SAQA Global Exhibitions including Camouflage and Fungus Among Us exhibitions, bringing SAQA art quilts to UK audiences.
• European Patchwork Meeting (Alsace, France)notableChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHost venue for SAQA Global Exhibition Color in Context: Green, scheduled for September 2027, bringing SAQA exhibitions to European audiences.
• Quilt Festival HoustonnotableChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHost venue for Child's Play SAQA Global Exhibition opening October 2027 and Pollinators exhibition premiering November 2026.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Quilt Alliance: Nonprofit organization dedicated to documenting, preserving, and sharing the stories of quilts and quiltmakers. Co-produces Textile Talks with SAQA and serves an overlapping audience of quilt artists, scholars, and collectors.
• Surface Design Association: Nonprofit membership organization for surface design and textile artists that co-produces SAQA's Textile Talks weekly program. Directly comparable mission-driven fiber/textile arts community with membership, exhibitions, and educational programming.
• American Association of Woodturners: Nonprofit membership organization for woodturning artists. Direct structural peer to SAQA: same nonprofit membership model, exhibition programming, and joint exhibitions (e.g., Nature's Canvas at Windgate Museum of Art).
• Handweavers Guild of America: Nonprofit membership guild for handweavers, spinners, and dyers. Comparable fiber-art nonprofit with similar membership, publication, exhibition, and educational programming for traditional textile craftspeople.

Emerging players

• Textile Arts Center: New York-based nonprofit offering textile art classes, workshops, and exhibitions. Comparable in mission (promoting textile arts through education and community) but smaller in scale and primarily regional rather than global.
• Penland School of Craft: Nonprofit craft education school offering workshops across multiple mediums including fiber. Comparable education-driven nonprofit model but focused on intensive workshop-based learning rather than ongoing community/exhibition programming.

Broad incumbents

• Craft Contemporary: Los Angeles-based nonprofit art museum (formerly Craft and Folk Art Museum) exhibiting contemporary craft across mediums. Comparable art-focused nonprofit with exhibitions and educational programming, serving an adjacent but broader craft audience.
• International Quilt Museum: Major academic museum at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with the world's largest publicly held quilt collection. Co-produces SAQA's Textile Talks and serves an overlapping textile arts audience, though its primary mission is collection and scholarship versus SAQA's community/exhibition focus.
• National Quilt Museum: Museum in Paducah, Kentucky dedicated to quilting as a contemporary art form. Comparable in audience and exhibition focus but operates as a museum rather than a membership association, and competes for high-profile quilt exhibitions.
• American Craft Council: National nonprofit advancing contemporary American craft across all mediums (fiber, clay, glass, metal, wood). Broader category peer offering exhibitions, publications (American Craft magazine), and educational programs serving a wider craft audience than SAQA's fiber-specific focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCbTTAC8620wCtlwBnFWcWEw
• Facebookfacebook.com/pages/Studio-Art-Quilt-Associates-Inc/110208686277
• Instagraminstagram.com/saqaart
• Pinterestpinterest.com/saqaart
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/studio-art-quilt-associates-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Studio Art Quilt Associates