Yvonne Porcella

Yvonne Porcella (May 12, 1936 – February 12, 2016), born Yvonne Bechis, was an American artist known for her quilts and wearable art.

Yvonne Bechis was born in Oakdale, California and raised in Watsonville,^[1] the daughter of Louis Andrew Bechis and Mary Kalich Bechis. "I was raised in a modest house with modest income," she recalled in 2012. "If I wanted a new dress I had to make it."^[1] In 1958 she earned a bachelor's degree in public health and an RN from the University of San Francisco.^[1]

Bechis worked as an operating room nurse.^[2] She was a self taught quilter.^[2] Her art included paintings, weaving, pieced clothing, and art quilts. Porcella founded Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. in 1989,^[3] and served as its president for eleven years.^[4][5] Porcella was inducted into the Quilters Hall of Fame in Marion, Indiana, in 1998^[5] and was awarded a Silver Star by the International Quilt Association.^[6] In 2012, she had a retrospective as Distinguished Artist, at the Carnegie Arts Center in Turlock.^[1]

Bechis also lectured and taught on contemporary art quilting,^[7] and published several books about quiltmaking.^[5][8]

Porcella's quilts were known for bold colors, and black and white checkerboards or stripes,^[9] and unusual titles such as It's About Beets & Perfume and Non Fat, Low Cholesterol, Chemically Enhanced Frozen Dairy Dessert.^[6] Her 1980 quilt Takoage was part of the Smithsonian's 150 Years national tour in 1996.^[8][10] In 1998 she collaborated with Julia Child on a Salade niçoise-themed quilt titled Bon Appetit.^[5] Her quilt Keep Both Feet on the Floor, was exhibited in a major review of twentieth-century quilts.^[11]

Porcella's fabric art can be found in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art,^[12] Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco,^[13] the Renwick Gallery at the Smithsonian American Art Museum,^[10] the National Quilt Museum, and the Museum of Arts and Design.^[14]

• Yvonne Porcella: a colorful book, Porcella Studios, 1986, ISBN 978-0-93658-900-8
• Colors changing hue, C&T Publishing, 1994, ISBN 978-0-91488-186-5
• Six Color World: Color, Cloth, Quilts & Wearables, C&T Publishing, 1997, ISBN 978-1-57120-035-8
• Art & Inspirations, C&T Publishing, 1998, ISBN 978-1-57120-050-1^[5]
• Magical Four-Patch And Nine-Patch Quilts, C&T Publishing, 2010, ISBN 978-1-57120-878-1
• Yvonne Porcella, A Memoir: Defining Why, Porcella Studios, 2014, ISBN 978-0-69228-466-7

• Art Quilts from the Collection of the Museum of Arts & Design, 2004, American Textile History Museum, included Porcella's Snow on Mount Fuji (1985)^[15]
• Women of Taste: A Collaboration Celebrating Quilt Artists and Chefs, 2000, Oakland Museum, Oakland, California^[5]
• Iconic to Ironic: Fashioning California Identity, 2003, Oakland Museum, Oakland, California
• Yvonne Porcella: Fifty Years an Artist, 2016, Visions Art Museum, San Diego, California^[16]
• Artwear: Fashion and Anti-Fashion, 2005, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Bechis married Robert S. Porcella, a general practice physician, in 1958.^[6] They had four children. Porcella died from ovarian cancer in 2016, in Modesto, at the age of 79.^[1][17]

• Interview with Yvonne Porcella
• Go Tell It at the Quilt Show! interview with Yvonne Porcella, (Video on YouTube)