Current Exhibits
May 20, 1999 – September 18, 1999 September 25, 1999
(Closing Date extended by a week)
A Communion of the Spirits: African-American Quilters, Preservers, and Their Stories
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Performing and Cultural Arts Complex
Columbus, OH
This exhibit incorporates 200 of the photographs (many encased in quilted frames), 15 quilts and other selected artifacts documented by Roland Freeman in the accompanying book.
May 14, 1999 – October 10, 1999
Spirits of the Cloth: Contemporary Quilts by African-American Artists American Craft Museum New York, NY This exhibition reveals the growing popularity and significance of quilts as an art form. These quilts, in their diversity and quality, attest to the ability of creative artists to transform lifeless materials into lively and life-sustaining statements of the human spirit. It salutes the work of the Women of Color Quilters Nework, founded by Carolyn Mazloomi in 1986.
July 3, 1999 – September 26, 1999
To Honor and Comfort: Native American Quilting TraditionsCleveland Museum of Natural History Cleveland, OH This exhibit celebrates the history and diversity of quiltmaking in Native communities, examines how quiltmaking strengthens community life, and pays tribute to the artists who continue to create within this expressive cultural tradition.
August 7, 1999 – October 10, 1999
Dancing at the Louvre: Faith Ringgold’s French Collection and Other Story Quilts
Chicago Cultural Center
Chicago, IL
The French Collection and The American Collection are comprised of twelve painted quilts each. Although each series has a distinct focus, their narratives are linked by the familial relationship of the fictional characters. The heroine of The French Collection, the celebrated expatriate African American artist Willia Marie Simone, is the mother of Marlena Truth Simone, heroized in The American Collection as a black woman struggling to be an artist in New York in the 1940s. Marlena confronts issues of race and gender that pique her interest and provide fuel for her art.
The French Collection focuses on the life of Willia Marie, an artist, model, and cafe owner living in France whom Ringgold has described as an alter ego. In the story quilts, Willia Marie visits art sites including the Louvre and Claude Monet’s garden in Giverny. Modern European art and artists are used as a framework for rewriting the history of American expatriates, both black and white, and inventing visits to Europe by black female celebrities ranging from Sojourner Truth to Zora Neale Hurston. Images of Ringgold’s family and friends are also interspersed throughout the quilts. [ This text by the Berkeley Art Museum ]
August 12, 1999 – November 13, 1999
Quilts of Color: Three Generations of Quilters in an Afro-Texan Family
Texas Folklife Resources Gallery – 1317 S. Congress Ave
Austin, TX
Admission: Free
Gallery Hours: Tuesday Thursday from 1pm 6pm; Friday from 1pm 5pm
Saturday please call for Saturday hours
For information: (512) 441-9255
Texas Folklife Resources (TFR) invites the public to view Quilts of Color: Three Generations of Quilters in an Afro-Texan Family. This exhibition surveys the tradition of quilting among sisters Katie Mae Tatum and Gladys Henry and Henrys daughter Laverne Brackens and granddaughter Sherry Byrd. This family of quilters has been based out of Fairfield, Texas for the last five generations, since the end of the Civil War, and provides a rare glimpse of an active tradition as it unfolded over time and within the life of the individual makers.
Associated programming includes:
Workshop with Quilting Sisters of Color, Thursday 16 September, 7 9pm
Lecture by Dr. Sheila Walker, Friday 17 September, 7 9pm
Demonstration by exhibition quilters, Saturday 18 September, 1 3pm
Click Here to Read the Exhibit Brochure
Texas Folklife Resources is a non-profit cultural organization dedicated to the presentation and preservation of the living, traditional folk arts and culture of the Lone Star State. Based in Austin, the organizations research and programs are conducted statewide and include exhibits, concerts, workshops, classroom residencies and media projects. Quilts of Color is made possible in part with funding from the Texas Commission on the Arts, the City of Austin under the auspices of the Austin Arts Commission and the Austin American-Statesman.
September 1, 1999 – September 30, 1999
Many Cultures – One Art Quilt Show
featuring African-American & Native American Quilts
Kentucky State University
Jackson Hall
400 East Main Street
Frankfort, KY40601
(502) 227-6315 Fax: (502) 227-6407
For a brochure, send a SASE to the address above
Future Exhibits
September 19, 1999 – February 27, 2000
Great Lakes Native Quilting Michigan State University Museum East Lansing, MI
The first exhibition devoted to North American Indian quilting in the Great Lakes region. This exhibit examines the historical introduction of quilting as well as the contemporary use and meaning of quilts made by Oneida, Odawa, Potawatomi, Ojibwa, and Mohawk quiltmakers living in Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, New York and Ontario. It showcases the diversity of Native quiltmaking and pays tribute to the artists awho continue to work in this expressive cultural medium.
September 12, 1999 – January 2, 2000
Wrapped in Pride: Ghanian Kente and African American Identity Arts and Industries Building Smithsonian Institute Washington, DC
Nearly 200 textile art works illustrate the rich diversity of traditional kente cloth, its historical role in African societies, and its growing popularity in the United States. Another aspect of this exhibition, with the same name, is on view at the National Musuem of African Art.
May 13, 2000 – July 30, 2000 Detroit Museum of African-American history Detroit, Michigan
November 19, 2000 – February 25, 2001 Anchorage Museum of Art Anchorage, Alaska
Dates To Be Announced Michael C. Carlos Museum Emory University Atlanta, GA
October 22 – December 12, 1999
A Communion of the Spirits: African-American Quilters, Preservers, and Their Stories Hampton University Museum Hampton, VA
January 14, 2000 – June 4, 2000
San Diego Historical Society
San Diego, California
September 28 – December 31, 2000
The Gibbes Museum of Art
Charleston, SC
January 15, 2001 – April 29, 2001
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Los Angeles, CA
October 23, 1999 – January 16, 2000
To Honor and Comfort: Native American Quilting Traditions Museum of the Rockies
Bozeman, Montana
February 12, 2000 – May 17, 2000
Bishop Museum
Honolulu, Hawaii
June 3, 2000 – August 27, 2000
Washington State Historical Society
Takoma, Washington
September 23, 2000 to December 31, 2000
Museum of International Folk Art
Sante Fe, New Mexico
January 20, 2001 – April 15, 2001
Heard Museum
Phoenix, AZ
October 23, 1999 – February 6, 2000
Eyewinkers, Tumbleturds and Candlebugs: The Art of Elizabeth Talford Scott Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA)
750 Marguerite Drive
Winston-Salem, NC
Telephone: (336) 725-1904
This exhibition of 44 quilts and objects is a retrospective of the acclaimed Baltimore-based artist’s work. Scott’s designs are often abstract and contain a variety of fabrics and embellishments. Utilizing stones, buttons, shells, bones and other unexpected materials, Scott’s creations break free of the traditional concept of quiltmaking and help to bridge the gap between fine art and craft. She brings a strong oral traditon to her work and each quilt in the exhibition is complemented by Scott’s poetic descriptions. The stories these creations tell and the universal images evoked enable the viewer to recall two related and significant legacies: African aesthetic traditions before and after slavery in the South and Euro-American design traditions.
November 26, 1999 – January 9, 2000
Dancing at the Louvre: Faith Ringgold’s French Collection and Other Story Quilts
Contemporary Art Center of Virginia
Virginia Beach, Virginia
January 23, 2000 – April 2, 2000
Wichita Art Museum
Wichita, Kansas
April 14, 2000 – May 28, 2000
Kalamazoo Institute for the Arts
Kalamazoo, Michigan
June 11, 2000 – August 20, 2000
Madison Art Center
Madison, Wisconsin
January, 1999 – April, 2000
Spirits of the Cloth: Contemporary African-American Quilters Mint Museum Charlotte, NC
September, 2000 – January 2001 Renwick Gallery of American Art
Smithsonian Museum
February 18, 2001 – May 13, 2001 Harn Museum
Gainsville, FL
September, 2002 – January 2002 Blaffer Gallery
University of Houston
Houston, TX
January 13, 2000 – February 13, 2000
Quilting Sisters: African-American Quilting in Michigan Krasl Art Center St. Joseph, MI This exhibition of twenty quilts from the Michigan State University Museum’s textile collection represents the diversity of quilting traditions found within historical and contemporary African-American communities in Michigan. From very conservative to highly innovative styles, the quilts reflect these themes: 1) records of patterns of migration and settlement; 2) expressions or documents of ethnic identity; 3) quilters as artists/quilts as art; 4) documents of personal, family, and community history; 5) quilting traditions; and 6) the inclusion of photographic portratis of individual quilters taken by Kalamazoo-based artist Mary Whalen and excerpts from taped interviews.
