90.3 WCPN ideastream®: The Art of American Quiliting

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The Art of American Quiliting

Thursday, June 24, 2004
Topics: Arts
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Like voices coming together in a spiritual hymn, the colors of a quilt can raise our spirits as they warm our hearts. For generations, a group of women from a small Alabama town have sewn the stories of their lives into a patchwork of fabric and emotion, to provide comfort, for family and friends. The ladies of Gee’s Bend often would sing spirituals, as they pieced together cloth from old clothes and factory scraps, creating an incredible combination of artistic talent, everyday function, and southern hospitality. For the women of Gee’s Bend, their quilts were at most family heirlooms to be treasured by their children, or practical pieces to be sold for necessities. But in recent years, curators from some of America’s finest museums discovered that the Quilts of Gee’s Bend are much more than examples of beautiful utility - they are masterpieces of American art. The Cleveland Museum of Art opens the acclaimed exhibition featuring the works of four generations of Gee’s Bend quilters. “The Quilts of Gee’s Bend” goes on view, with a run through mid-September.

Nettie Young, Arlonzia Pettway, Dee Perry, and Mary Lee Bendolph.
Photos by Dave DeOreo

The Cleveland Museum of Art
The Quilts of Gee’s Bend
June 27 to Sept. 12, 2004

Jessie T. Pettway (American, b. 1929)
Bars and String-Pieced Columns, c. 1950
Cotton
95 x 76 inches
The Collection of the Tinwood Alliance
Cat. Pg. 89
Image courtesy of The Cleveland Museum of Art

Mary Lee Bendolph (American, b. 1935)
“Housetop” variation, 1998; quilted by her daughter, Essie Bendolph Pettway, 2001
Cotton coruroy, twill, assorted polyesters
72 x 76 inches
The Collection of the Tinwood Alliance
Cat. Pg. 131
Image courtesy of The Cleveland Museum of Art

Arlonzia Pettway (American, b. 1923)
Chinese Coins variation, ca. 1965; quilted in 1976
Corduroy, denim, cotton twill
88 x 73 inches
The Collection of the Tinwood Alliance
Cat. Pg. 97
Image courtesy of The Cleveland Museum of Art

Florine Smith (American, b. 1948)
Four-block Strips, c. 1975
Corduroy
68 x 81 inches
The Collection of the Tinwood Alliance
Cat. Pg. 175
Image courtesy of The Cleveland Museum of Art

Ella Mae Irby (American, 1923–2001
“Texas Star,” 1973
Cotton, corduroy, cotton blend
88 x 85 inches
The Collection of the Tinwood Alliance
Cat. Pg. 153
Image courtesy of The Cleveland Museum of Art

China Pettway (American, b. 1952)
Blocks, ca. 1975
Corduroy and cotton hopsacking
83 x 70 inches
The Collection of the Tinwood Alliance
Cat. Pg. 167
Image courtesy of The Cleveland Museum of Art

Deborah Pettway Young (American, 1916–1997)
Roman Stripes variation, c. 1960
Cotton twill, print, jersey knit, denim, polyester
83 x 64 inches
The Collection of the Tinwood Alliance
Cat. Pg. 135
Image courtesy of The Cleveland Museum of Art

Lucy T. Pettway (American, b. 1921)
“Snowball” (quiltmaker’s name), c. 1950
Cotton, corduroy, cotton sacking materials
85 x 85 in.
The Collection of the Tinwood Alliance
Cat. Pg. 151
Image courtesy of The Cleveland Museum of Art

Rachel Carey George (American, b. 1908)
Strips, c. 1938
Denim (wool trousers, mattress ticking, cotton)
72 x 82 inches
The Collection of the Tinwood Alliance
Cat. Pg. 65
Image courtesy of The Cleveland Museum of Art

Annie Mae Young (American, b. 1928)
Work-Clothes Quilt with Center Medallion of Strips, 1976
Denim, corduroy, synthetic blend (britches legs with pockets)
108 x 77 inches
The Collection of the Tinwood Alliance
Cat. Pg. 106
Image courtesy of The Cleveland Museum of Art