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The Quilts of Gee's Bend

Highly Anticipated Exhibition Celebrates Multi-Generational Artistry of One Community in Southern Alabama

October 15, 2004 through January 2, 2005

Hollywood could hardly create a more unlikely scenario than the extraordinary success of the Gee’s Bend quilters. The script would read like this: Generations of African-American women living in a poor, isolated rural community in the Deep South make quilts to keep their families warm and to brighten their homes. Their quilts are “discovered,” collected, and displayed as major works of art in a traveling exhibition that takes the country by storm. Organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Tinwood Alliance of Atlanta, The Quilts of Gee’s Bend marks the first time these stunning quilts have been seen in a public forum. The exhibition has been shown to critical acclaim at such museums as the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C., and most recently at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Now, the Chrysler brings these extraordinary creations to Hampton Roads.

The remote rural community known as Gee’s Bend occupies an area of land some five miles across and seven miles deep inside a horseshoe-shaped bend in the Alabama River. Geography has defined life in Gee’s Bend over several generations. The first African Americans to settle in the area were the slaves of John Gee, for whom the Bend is named. Cut off on three sides from the outside world by the Alabama River, a ferry operated sporadically until the 1960s. Much like an island, the community remained insulated in large measure from the forces of change. The descendants of the first people in Gee’s Bend continued on as small farmers who did well in the early 1900s when cotton prices were high. They suffered as cotton prices declined in the 1920s and fell on very hard times during the Great Depression. What nature created at the Bend, history has reinforced. Isolation is only half the story of Gee’s Bend; the other half is tradition. Because the inhabitants of Gee’s Bend were left largely to themselves for nearly 100 years after the end of the Civil War in 1865, many of the community’s traditions and folkways survived virtually unchanged well into the 20th century. Quilting is one of the most important of these traditions.

The quilts in the exhibition represent four generations of artists who took fabric from their everyday lives—corduroy, denim, cotton sheets, and well-worn clothing—and fashioned them into compositions that more closely resemble modernist abstract paintings than familiar quilt patterns. The women learned the craft from their mothers or grandmothers but the emphasis was always on individuality and innovation. Quilters made the tops by themselves and occasionally got together for the quilting. Most of the quilts in the exhibition are of the type known as piece, strip, or patchwork. As Mensie Lee Pettway, a Gee’s Bend quilter says about tradition of quilt-making, “A lot of people make quilts just for your bed, for to keep you warm, but a quilt is more. It represents safekeeping, it represents beauty, and you could say it represents family history.”

The exhibition is accompanied by a full schedule of educational programs as well as an audio tour and 25-minute video featuring the quilters of Gee’s Bend describe their experiences in their own words.

The Chrysler’s presentation of this exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Admiral Benjamin T. Hacker, former Museum Trustee, decorated Naval officer, and community leader.

America Irby, "One Patch" caption: America Irby (American, 1916-1993) "One Patch" with patterning, tied, 1970 or 1971 Cotton 91 x 78 in. The William Arnett Collection of the Tinwood Alliance
Annie Mae Young, "Work-clothes quilt with center medallian of strips" caption: Annie Mae Young (American, b. 1928) Work-clothes quilt with center medallian of strips, 1976 Denim, corduroy, synthetic blend (britches legs with pockets) 108 x 77 in. The William Arnett Collection of the Tinwood Alliance
China Pettway, "Blocks" caption: China Pettway (American, b. 1952) Blocks, ca. 1975 Corduroy and cotton Hopsacking 83 x 70 in. The William Arnett Collection of the Tinwood Alliance
Gloria Hoppins, “Housetop" caption: Gloria Hoppins (American, b. 1955) “Housetop” center medallion, ca. 1975 Corduroy 91 x 88 in. The William Arnett Collection of the Tinwood Alliance
Jessie T. Pettway, "Bars and string-pieced columns" caption:Jessie T. Pettway (American, b. 1929) Bars and string-pieced columns, 1950's Cotton 95 x 76 in. The William Arnett Collection of the Tinwood Alliance
Amelia Bennet, "Blocks and Stripes" caption: Amelia Bennett (1914-2002) Blocks and strips, 1950s Cotton twill, printed and solid corduroy, synthetic knit crepe 80 x 74 The William Arnett Collection of the Tinwood Alliance
Ella Mae Irby, "Texas Star" caption: Ella Mae Irby (1923-2001) Texas Star, 1973 Cotton, corduroy, cotton blend 88 x 85 in. The William Arnett Collection of the Tinwood Alliance
Arlonzia Pettway, "Chinese coins" caption: Arlonzia Pettway (b. 1923) Chinese Coins variation, ca. 1965, quilted 1976 Corduroy, denim, cotton twill 88 x 73 in. The William Arnett Collection of the Tinwood Alliance
Loretta Pettway, "Four-block strip quilt" caption: Loretta Pettway, (American, b. 1942) Four-block strip quilt, ca. 1960 Cotton twill and synthetic material (men's clothing) 78 x 73 in. The William Arnett Collection of the Tinwood Alliance
Lottie Mooney, "Housetop" caption: Lottie Mooney (1908-1992) “Housetop” – four-block “Half-Log Cabin” variation, ca. 1940 Cotton and rayon; 88 x 73 in. The William Arnett Collection of the Tinwood Alliance
Mary Lee Bendolph, "Housetop" caption: Mary Lee Bendolph (b. 1935) “Housetop” variation, 1998; quilted by daughter Essie Bendolph Pettway in 2001 Cotton, corduroy, twill, assorted polyesters 72 x 76 in. The William Arnett Collection of the Tinwood Alliance
Lorretta Pettway, Medallion caption: Lorretta Pettway (b. 1942) Medallion, ca. 1960 Synthetic knit and cotton sacking material 87 x 70 in. The William Arnett Collection of the Tinwood Alliance
Nettie Young, Milky Way caption: Nettie Young (b. 1917) “H” variation (quiltmaker’s name: “Milky Way”), 1971 Cotton; 88 x 77 in. The William Arnett Collection of the Tinwood Alliance
Quilts on the Clothesline caption: Quilts on the Clothesline at Polly Bennett's House, Alabama, Route 5, near Alberta Matthew Arnett photograph, 2001 The William Arnett Collection of the Tinwood Alliance
Rachel Carey George caption: Rachel Carey George David Raccuglia photograph, 2000 The William Arnett Collection of the Tinwood Alliance
Nettie Young caption: Nettie Young David Raccuglia photograph, 2000 The William Arnett Collection of the Tinwood Alliance

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