Several quilters from Gee’s Bend, a rural Alabama community famous for its distinctive quilting style, will sing and talk about their craft for the program “The Women of Gee’s Bend” at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9, in January Hall, Room 110.
Also speaking will be Matt Arnett, curator of the Gee’s Bend quilt exhibit at the Missouri History Museum, and folk artist and sculptor Lonnie Holley, also from Alabama.
The Gee’s Bend quilters will perform the gospel songs traditionally sung while they create Gee’s Bend quilts — quilts renowned for their vibrant color and abstract patterns. They also will discuss the artistic process behind making the quilts and the exhibition at the Missouri History Museum titled “Mary Lee Bendolph, Gee’s Bend Quilts, and Beyond.”
Gee’s Bend, Ala., is a former cotton plantation that developed isolated from the surrounding community. Because of their isolation, the once-enslaved tenant farmers who worked at Gee’s Bend developed their own distinctive local culture — including the art of creating Gee’s Bend quilts.
The program is sponsored by University Libraries, the African & African American Studies Program in Arts & Sciences, and the Office of Community and Governmental Relations. For more information about “The Women of Gee’s Bend,” call 935-5418.
“Mary Lee Bendolph, Gee’s Bend Quilts, and Beyond” is on display at the Missouri History Museum through Sept. 13.
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