A graduate of the University of Minnesota, Jan Myers-Newbury has been quilting since 1976 and is now considered a leader in the American surface design movement. A Plane View of Things Past/Transparent Ideas was commissioned specifically for the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. It represents her early work using meticulously dyed fabrics to build layers upon layers of abstract shapes into the surface of her quilts. In stark contrast to the improvised quality of Mary Lee Bendolph's quilt Strings, seen nearby, Myers-Newbury 's designs are mathematically precise in both concept and execution. Myers-Newbury now lives in Pennsylvania, and has concentrated on constructing quilts from shibori-dyed fabrics since the 1990s.