Black and White

Dr. Gaither's exhibition at the Maryland State Arts Council has been extended through May. This three-part piece is one of the components of the installation. Hear how Dr. Gaither conceptualized the work and what messages she asks people to think about when looking at it.

QUILT PROJECTS IN THE WORKS

The 100^th Posting caused me to pause and think more about the extent of the original TTT (Trails Tracks Tarmac) Exhibition and the increasing emergence of new communities, art makers, and museum goers. Of course, the challenge set forth by Banneker-Douglass Museum’s Education and Public Program techno guru Genevieve Kaplan fuels my attempts to post more often.

I thought with this posting I would share a bit more about the current long-term projects that might invite your participation. The Black Watermen of the Chesapeake Bay Quilt, on exhibit at Maryland State Arts Council in downtown Baltimore extended until May 30^th 2011, serves as a table of contents for the BWCB Extension Project. It is my hope that each of the 200+ names of people, places, and events identified on the quilt soon will be adopted to have the larger story documented in quilt format. In a manner similar to TTT (on exhibit at Bates Legacy Center in Annapolis) in which railroad track pattern fabric appears in each smaller quilt to unite the individual community stories, a Chesapeake blue fabric water pattern is available for use to bring the individual watermen and women experiences together in the even larger American story.

I’m excited that teachers working with their students have begun collaborative conversations and other individuals have agreed to quilt a story of a family member or historic aspects of specific watermen communities. I’m also optimistic that, like TTT, artifacts will be uncovered as quilters explore the images and history of the area that would inform a future exhibition. With the ease of new technology, video interviews of seniors that recount memories of their parents and grand parents could lead to uncovering untold parts of lost histories, while at the same time preserve their images and voices.

The second project is My Memory Is Only As Good As Yours Decades Series Quilts. Initially, I asked the question, “What signifying words should I use to reference my identity beyond the color of my skin?” and “How do these words tell my story relative to history and my communities?” I’m inviting family, friends, colleagues, old and new acquaintances to create a circular quilt in contrast to my forty rectangular and square quilts that document personal experiences within the context of identity, relationships, American and/or world history, and an important personal memory sealed by the passage of time.

Embroidery hoops come in multiple sizes and could be used as templates; or as my cousin Robsyl says, “ a hula-hoop gives you more room to tell the story” needing to be told. Be sure to choose a circular sized hoop large enough to quilt one or both sides to tell a portion of our shared history. Thank you to quilters that have already completed and submitted their story quilt circles. Do you think 1000 quilt circles is a large enough number for the decades’ memory series? In 2003, I received 150 quilt squares for the Friendship Project in a matter of a few weeks used in the creation of twelve 45”x 45” quilts which have provided scholarships opportunities for inner city children to have access to MICA’s Young People’s Studio artistic experiences.

In closing, a series of documented story quilt projects related to uniting communities are partially started with selected fabrics gathered and layered with plans further being developed in the sketchbook. More information will follow in future postings relative to a group of quilts that document experiences of 1) African American Women Social Groups, 2) the Life and Legacy of Harriet Tubman, and 3) Maryland African American Legal Legends to the history and culture of Maryland and to the larger American story.

I’d like to think that our world is much more humane than the media would have us to believe and more of us are connected through our shared history and experiences. Please use the gmail address for this site if you, your family, or group want more information, are interested in participating in any or all of the above projects, or would like to begin related projects in your communities.

On the Road...

I hope everyone enjoyed Dr. Gaither's posting last week. She is a self-professed techno-phobe, so the fact I was actually able to get her to post still surprises me. Hopefully she will be encouraged to be a regular poster.... I am somewhat at loose ends on what to post about this week, so I thought I would share a few photos to highlight some of the activity surrounding the National Black Theater Festival quilt going on right now.

Dr. Gaither travelled to Atlanta last month to give a long time consultant to the organizers of the National Black Theater Festival a chance to see what Dr. Gaither has been working on. They had heard Dr. Gaither describe the quilt and had seen a few photos, but this was their first opportunity to see the artwork in person. Transporting the quilt to and from Atlanta was an interesting task, not unlike any of the other transportation adventures the quilts have taken Dr. Gaither and crew on. When the My American Series traveled to Hartford, CT last year, each of the six quilt were packed into large plastic containers, placed in the back of a mini-van, and driven up the East Coast by Dr. Gaither and one of her students, Sara. When Dr. Gaither was on sabbatical in Massachusetts, she had all 40 of her decades quilts, the Theater Festival quilt, and four other quilts with her. When I traveled up to visit her and helped her drive back to Maryland, there were quilts bursting out of every possible part of her car. Thank goodness I learned how to roll a sleeping bag when I was in Girl Scouts, because that skill came in very handy. In order to help the quilts "breathe" during their time tightly rolled up, Dr. Gaither held a private showing of several of the decades quilts in Hartford, CT on our way back to Maryland. After traveling to Hartford, the quilt then went to Los Angeles and Las Vegas via train and car before flying back to Maryland.

To get the National Black Theater Festival quilt to Atlanta, we had to pack the quilt up and wrestle it into a suitcase. Trust me when I say it is not easy to fit an eleven foot quilt into a box suitcase. The quilt then traveled with Dr. Gaither via train from Washington, DC to Atlanta. When Dr. Gaither arrived in Atlanta, she immediately went to meet with a long time consultant to the festival and showed them the quilt. The reaction was one of sheer amazement and awe. It looks like there will be quite a bit of activity surrounding the quilt at the festival, so stay tuned. After its showing in Atlanta, Dr. Gaither and the quilt parted ways so that Dr. Gaither could get some rest. She travelled to Florida and the quilt was packed back in its suitcase, put in two boxes, and FedEx'ed to me. Yes, FedEx'ed. It remained in its packaging until Dr. Gaither returned at which point I quickly drove the quilt back to her where it has stayed ever since.

So there is the saga of the traveling quilt. The quilt hasn't seen too much action in the past few weeks, although I hear there will be a flurry of activity in the next couple weeks with the community quilters being called back into action. A completion deadline has been set for the end of the month. I will keep you posted on the progress, although I can't show too many pictures. I can't give away the quilt before it is officially unveiled in August.