Amazing Wonders: Quilts by African-Americans of the Northern California Region
Artists include: Elizabeth Browder, Blanche Brown, Sherry Byrd, Loretta Cohen, Marion Coleman, Jamie Gladney-Presley, Marilyn Handis, Benita Jones, Niambi Kee, Marilyn Lacey, Debbie Mason, Patricia Montgomery, Angie Tobias, Ann Seals, Nerlene Taylor, LaQuita Tummings, Julia Vitero, Dolores Vitero Presley, Johnnie Wade and others.
Curator’s Statement:
In the northern California region, there is a rich history of quilt-making, particularly within the African-American community. In addition to the African-American Quilters Guild of Oakland, old and young alike have demonstrated that the craft continues to be alive and well, and are also passing the tradition on to the next generation. Moreover, quilting also defies what we traditionally consider to be a craft; artists are using quilting in nontraditional ways in order to establish that textiles can be construed as fine art, much like what Faith Ringgold accomplished many years ago when she began to paint of the surfaces of quilted fabrics. Quilting isn’t just for grandmothers anymore!
Amazing Wonders: Quilts by African-Americans of the Northern California Region is a celebration of quilt-making in the various traditional and nontraditional ways that the art has survived into the twenty-first century, and serves as a testament that the craft is still very much alive and well.
The exhibition’s evolution germinated through the insight of Dr. Patricia Turner, Professor of African-American Studies, UC Davis and author of Crafted Lives: Stories and Studies of African-American Quilters. I had a chance to talk with her about this book, which illuminates the lives of African-American quilters, and is the inspiration for the exhibit.
For Quilting the Patch: Computer Graphic Sacramento artist Gioia Fonda worked with students at Sacramento High School to create “digital” quilts that are on exhibition in the Community Gallery in conjunction with Amazing Wonders.
I am in awe of the quilters and quilt collectors whose work is on display in Amazing Wonders, and I thank them for their immense contribution to keeping alive such a wonderful aspect of American history. I hope their work will continue to inspire new generations of artists.
- Kim Curry-Evans, Curator
Quilting the Patch: Computer Graphic
by artist Julee Richardson
Artists include: Jason Austin, JaeMe Bereal, Lorraine Bonner, Elizabeth Carter, Ron Carter, Nancy Cato, Duane Conliffe, Zwanda Cook, Kelvin Curry, Paula deJoie, Tamara Duffey, Cassandra Falby, Anjelle Floyd, Donna Gatson, Shaharah Godfrey, Renata Gray, Minnie E.Grimes, Raymond Haywood, Karen M. Henderson-Oyekanmi, Yolanda Holley, Jackie Houston, Gene Howell, Jr., Amana Brembry Johnson, Will Johnson, Richard Lalaind, Howard Mackey, Alix Magloire, Ajuan Mance, Ivy McCray, Zanaib Nia, Phil Palmer, Patricia Patterson, Rosalyn Parhams, Raife & Margree Pickett, Gwendolyn Reed, Justice Renaissance, William Rhodes, Julee Richardson, Bernadette Robertson, Hilda Robinson, Ron Moultrie Saunders, Malik Seneferu, Dorothy Shack, Elena Spencer, Atiba Sylvia Thomas, Tomyé, Milton Tuitt, Karen Turner, Yusuf Waajid, Shawn Weeden, Thearthur Wright, Eugene Randolph Young and others.
The Richmond Art Center is proud to showcase The Art of Living Black: 14th Annual Bay Area Black Artists’ Exhibition and Self-Guided Art Tour - the only annual non-juried exhibition and self-guided tour in the Bay Area to exclusively feature more than 60 regional artists of African descent. Works include fine arts and crafts, paintings, sculpture, photography, prints, masks, stained glass, quilts, textile art, ceramics, dolls, and small furniture, which will be available for purchase.
A number of satellite shows at various locations throughout the Bay Area accompany this exhibition. The exhibitions culminate with a self-guided art tour giving the public an opportunity to meet the artists, learn about their creative processes and purchase art directly from them. For information, go the The Art of Living Black’s website at www.taolb.net
The Art of Living Black was co-founded in 1997 by the late artists Rae Louise Hayward and Jan Hart Schuyers and continues to honor their vision to this day. Other artists involved were April Watkins, painter and owner of The Art of Living Center in Berkeley and Hershell West, a muralist and currently the chair of the Board of the Richmond Art Center. TAOLB is one of the most popular annual events sponsored by The Richmond Art Center and it is one of the longest running art shows of its kind in the Bay Area.
Artwork created by Sacramento High School Students with artist Gioia Fonda in conjunction with the Amazing Wonders exhibition.
The Art of Living Black
