Gee's Bend Quilts

Assembly: Contemporary Gee’s Bend Quilts is kicking off the Birmingham Public Library’s Art for Everyone program, a series of art exhibitions slated to take place at Central Library this year. Assembly is currently on view in the Fourth Floor Gallery at the Central Library through February 24, 2024.

For generations, women from the rural Black community of Boykin, Alabama (more commonly known as “Gee’s Bend”), created critically acclaimed quilts from recycled work clothes and dresses, feed sacks, and fabric remnants. This exhibition features 30 quilts dating from 1975 to 2023 by 23 contemporary Gee’s Bend artists who continue that tradition.

Featured Artists

* Loretta Pettway Bennett
* Priscilla Hudson
* Marlene Bennett Jones
* Lue Ida McCloud
* Polly Mooney Middleton
* Sally Pettway Mixon
* Cathy Mooney
* Doris Pettway Mosely
* Caster Pettway
* Edwina Pettway
* Emma Mooney Pettway
* Katie Mae Pettway
* Loraine Pettway
* Mary Margaret Pettway
* Mensie L. Pettway
* Quinnie Pettway
* Stella Pettway
* Tinnie Pettway
* JoeAnn Pettway-West
* Andrea Pettway Williams
* Caroline Williams
* Jemica Williams
* Sharon Pettway Williams

Assembly: Contemporary Gee’s Bend Quilts is curated by Paul Barrett. Margaret Splane is the organizing curator.

The curators would like to thank Claudia Pettway Charley, Sew Gee’s Bend Heritage Builders, Bessie Miller, Carrie Campbell, and the Friends Foundation of the Birmingham Public Library for their invaluable support of this exhibition. This exhibition has been made possible, in part, by grants from the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.