Tribute to Shelly Zegart

It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of Shelly (Rochelle) Zegart, Founder and CEO of Kentucky to the World.

Shelly passed away surrounded by her family in the early morning hours of July 22, 2025. Shelly was a tireless advocate for Kentucky’s cultural legacy, a visionary nonprofit leader, a beloved member of the philanthropic community, and a respected authority in contemporary arts and culture. A natural storyteller, a fearless advocate, a remarkable fundraiser, a champion of ideas, Shelly brought global recognition to Kentucky’s stories and left an indelible mark on all who knew her. Our thoughts are with her family, friends, and the people whose lives she touched.

Shelly Zegart was a woman who didn’t just live in the world, she moved it.

As the founder and driving force behind Kentucky to the World, she gave Kentucky a national and global stage, elevating the Commonwealth’s voices in arts, culture, education, and innovation. But that was only the most recent chapter in a lifetime of impact, an arc that bent toward justice, beauty, curiosity, and community.

To describe Shelly as a quilt expert is accurate, but wildly incomplete. She was a curator of history, a scholar of design, a producer, speaker, author, activist, leader, and most of all, a storyteller. A woman who turned fabric into fine art, and narrative into movement.

Born to Question, Raised to Lead

Shelly was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on March 11, 1941, and raised in the small steel town of Monessen alongside her sister and brother. From a young age, she was unafraid to speak her mind and question the rules.

She often credited her parents with shaping her worldview: from her mother, Thelma, Shelly stated she learned that a woman’s place is wherever she chooses to be. From her father, Judge David Weiss, she learned that the work of an advocate is never finished. Those values became her compass.

Shelly earned her B.A. in Education from the University of Michigan, where she developed the foundation of inquiry and intellectual curiosity that would define her career. But her real education began when she started building a life rooted in family, community, and meaningful action.

A Legacy Stitched With Purpose

Shelly’s journey into quilt scholarship began in the 1970s, when she recognized the extraordinary artistry and historical value of a form long dismissed as domestic craft. She became a collector and dealer of historic quilts, uncovering pieces forgotten and undervalued, and preserving them for the world to see. Her own collection was eventually acquired by the Art Institute of Chicago.

In 1981, Shelly co-founded the Kentucky Quilt Project, the first statewide quilt documentation initiative in the U.S. It quickly became a national model, inspiring similar efforts across the country. She later co-founded the Alliance for American Quilts and was instrumental in launching the Quilt Index, a digital archive preserving quilt heritage for generations.

Her 2011 PBS-broadcast documentary series, Why Quilts Matter: History, Art & Politics, brought the art form, and the stories embedded in every stitch, into homes across America. With her signature clarity and conviction, Shelly showed us how deeply Americana runs through our textiles, and how quilts offer a lens into race, gender, politics, and power.

Her honors include the 2020 Governor’s Award in the Arts – Folk Heritage Award, Kentucky’s highest recognition for contributions to cultural preservation.

Partner in Life and Mission

Shelly shared more than five decades of love, growth, and purposeful partnership with Dr. Kenneth Zegart, her husband, confidant, and co-conspirator in living a life of meaning. Together, they built a home that was vibrant, open-hearted, and intellectually alive. She poured the same fierce love, wisdom, and sense of justice into raising their two daughters, Terri and Amy, as she did into her work, nurturing them to be thoughtful, independent, and brave.

One especially beautiful chapter of her and Kenny’s story unfolded when Kenny brought Shelly’s quilts into his OB/GYN practice. The soft lines and rich textures of her collection transformed sterile rooms into spaces of warmth and dignity. He noted, with gentle pride, that they may have been the first pieces of art by women to hang in medical spaces designed to serve women every day. It was a quiet but powerful act, one that exemplified the shared values of their marriage: thoughtful beauty, respect for women’s stories, and the power of art to create comfort.

When Kenny passed, the loss was immense but Shelly kept going. Because that’s who she was. Because onward was the only direction Shelly knew.

Kentucky to the World: Her Final—and Fierce—Love Letter

In 2012, Shelly launched Kentucky to the World (KTW) with one radical premise: that Kentucky’s minds and voices deserved to be heard on the global stage. For her, storytelling was a form of economic development, and the people of Kentucky were its most powerful assets.

What began as a spark became a full-on fire, fueled by her vision, charisma, and sheer force of will. She mentored a new generation of thinkers and doers, challenged the status quo, and made space at the table for those too often overlooked.

KTW was, and remains, her love letter to the Commonwealth, a reflection of everything she believed in: creativity with purpose, narrative with nuance, leadership with soul.

Sharp, Spirited, and Unapologetically Herself

Shelly led with boldness, precision, and heart. She was known to say, “You should know, I’m demanding,” and she was. But never without reason. She asked the best of people because she saw the best in them.

She had a rare ability to make you want to rise to the occasion, not out of fear, but out of respect. She brought clarity to chaos, cut through fluff with a single eyebrow raise, and elevated every room she entered. She believed in preparation, in precision, and in pushing forward when the work was worth doing, which, in her eyes, it almost always was.

She was as generous as she was exacting, as compassionate as she was candid. She didn’t waste words, time, or opportunities. And still, she made room for warmth, for mentorship, for humanity. Her emails might be short, but her belief in you was vast.

Shelly lived the idea of tikkun olam, the Jewish call to repair the world. She did that through art. Through truth. Through action. And through the people she lifted up along the way.

A Final Word—And a Lifelong Echo

In one of her final conversations, Shelly said:

“Don’t cancel your plans on my account.”

She said it with her usual mix of practicality and grace, thinking first of others, even when her time was growing short. That was Shelly. Direct. Thoughtful. Fierce. We are grateful for every day we had with her, and selfishly, we wish there had been more. More dinners, more debates, more matzo ball soup, more stories.

But Shelly would want us to carry the work forward. To keep telling the stories that matter. To lead with heart and backbone. And to make sure the good people find each other, just like she always did.

Thank you, Shelly.

Your legacy isn’t written in stone; it’s stitched into the people you’ve empowered.

It lives in every Kentucky story we tell.

Onward.

Visitation & Service for Shelly Zegart

July 29, 2025

Location:
The Temple
5101 US Hwy 42
Louisville, KY 40241

Visitation from 12:30 PM

Service starts at 2 PM

The Service will also be streaming live on The Temple YouTube Channel

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Shelly Zegart’s memory to Kentucky to the World, The Temple,  or a charity of your choice.