 Well a unique art challenge has brought works of art from around the world to Brainerd. For this week's in focus our Sarah Winkleman takes us to the Crossing Arts Alliance for a sneak peek of the new quilt challenge exhibit. Work is underway at the Crossing Arts Alliance as they prepare for the upcoming exhibit. It's like Christmas when you love art and you get to unpack all of these different art pieces and go oh look at this one look at that one that it's just a very fun day. It's very exciting. The Van Gogh quilt art challenge from Cherrywood fabrics in Baxter has led to submissions from artists all around the world. I wanted to come up with a platform where people could showcase their art, push themselves creatively, try a different technique and keep it small. As the challenge began all of the artists started off with the exact same color palette and had to use all four of these pieces of fabric. Just an amazing blue display. It really like walking into a world of Van Gogh's artwork and his life. Some of these quilts speak to his mental disorder. Some speak to his journey. Some speak to his actual artwork and the brushwork quilts from Japan, France and Australia can be found in the exhibit along with one local artist from Baxter. It's unbelievable. I can't believe how much it's grown and what doors have opened. Not just for me and Cherrywood, but for other people. All of the artwork from the challenge has also been published in a book. There's such a following of these quilts and these challenges. We're already anticipating record crowds here to come see it, which is very great for downtown Brainerd. With a challenge that started in Baxter went on exhibit in Canada and Australia will now be back in Brainerd for the community to enjoy. Quilts aren't just what we have perception of grandma making little quilts. It's moved beyond that into art and this is artwork. It's just using fabric instead of paint. Even with all of the quilts being the same size, fabric, color and theme, each piece is different and more unique than the last. To see a traditional art form like quilting be taken in this artistic direction is so fun. For this week's in focus in Brainerd, Sarah Winkleman, Lakeland News. The Van Gogh Quilt Challenge exhibit will open on Tuesday and will run until June 9th at the Crossing Arts Alliance in downtown Brainerd. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.