Chris Clark, Alabama Quilter 1958 - 2011

My prayers are to the family of Chris Clark, a popular Alabama quilter and folk artist, who passed away Tuesday from diabetes. I first became acquainted with Chris' distinctive painted quilts when I was researching Black Threads: An African American Quilting Sourcebook. I was able to speak with him on the phone and hear him share how he first got started quilting. He also let me know one of his quilts was used for a musical CD cover, Laser's Edge American Sampler (1999). I was able to see one of Chris' quilts in person at the Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum. WOW - what he could do with a nine-patch block and paint! You can see more of his quilts at:

• Chris Clark Art website
• Visionary Art website

According to the Birmingham News, Chris is survived by his wife Deborah Clark; his daughter, Tameika Clark; his mother, Kathleen Clark; and father, Ocie Clark Sr. You can leave a note to his family on Chris' memorial page on Legacy.com. (The photo of Chris here is from the Birmingham News article. Blessings.

Gwendolyn Magee (1943 – 2011) - Sister Quilter and Friend

It is with profound personal sadness that I share this news. Our Sister Quilter Gwendolyn Magee passed away after an illness. For those who had the privilege to see Gwen’s magnificent art quilts, hear her infectious laughter, or read her art commentaries, you’ll know what a great loss we’ll experience.Gwen, from Jackson, Mississippi, was an award winning quilt artist:

· 2011 – Mississippi Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts http://www.arts.state.ms.us/special-projects/governors-awards.php

· 2007 – Ford Fellow, United States Artists http://www.unitedstatesartists.org/user/gwenmagee

· 2006 – “Honored Artist,” Mississippi State Committee, National Museum of Women in the Arts.

· 2003 – Visual Arts of the Year – Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters

Gwen also inspired many textile artists and quilters nationally through her online outreach efforts. She was among the first to create a website dedicated to quilting and textiles by minorities worldwide. She owned and operated from 1999 - 2007 QuiltEthnic.com (http://quiltethnic.com), a leading textile history website. Additionally, she hosted the informative, creative, and instructional blog Textile Arts Resource Guide (http:creativityjourney.blogspot.com).

Gwen’s marvelous, emotional creativity was shared through her art and story quilts. Photographer and folklorist Roland Freeman was among the first to document Gwen’s quilts in the landmark book, Communion of the Spirits (1997). Her quilts were also included in such exhibitions as: Spirits of the Cloth: Contemporary Quilts by African American Artists (1999), Threads of Faith (2004), Honored Women Artists of Mississippi: A Retrospective (2007), Sou’s Journey: Inside the Creative Process (2009), Tradition/Innovations: American Masterpieces of Southern Craft & Traditional Art (2008), and more.

Gwen’s work was also documented in the solo traveling exhibition and catalog Journey of the Spirit: The Art of Gwendolyn A. Magee (2004 – 2007). You can see her artwork on Black Artists in America (http://blackartinamerica.com/profile/GwenMagee) or her own website (http://gwenmagee.com/). Here is a link to a article about Gwen from the Jackson Free Press newspaper: click here.

Gwen is survived by her loving husband, Magee (that’s all I ever heard her call him!), her two daughters, a son-in-law, two grandsons, and a host of other family and friends.

A memorial service for is set for 5 p.m. May 6 at the Mississippi Museum of Art: 380 South Lamar Street, Jackson, MS 39201. Tel: 601-960-1515.

May we celebrate Gwen's life and extraordinary creativity - and ask for blessings for her family.

Viola Canady (1922 - 2009) - Sewing in Heaven

Mrs. Viola Canady, the co-founder of the Daughters of Dorcas and Sons Quilting Guild of Washington, DC has passed away. Her services are tomorrow (March 26) at Cedar Hill Funeral Home at 10:30am. The viewing is at 10am.

Mrs. Canady was a wonderful quilt teacher. One of her specialties was quilting stain glass images. She worked for the Department of the Army as a tailor/fitter for 19 years before retiring. She even sewed the decorations on General MacArthur's uniform. You can read a 2002 Alliance For American Quilts interview with Mrs. Canady by clicking here. You can also read a profile about her in Roland Freeman's book, A Communion of the Spirits. Here's a link to a 1996 New York Times article/interview with Mrs. Canady.

You can post a note to Mrs. Canady's online memorial book. Mrs. Canady is survived by her children Vernon Canady and Beverly Canady Swilley and by three grandsons: Eric, Troy and Brandon. Blessings to Mrs. Canady.

Venus Blue - Quilts on Display in Peoria

Quilts of the late Sistah Quilter Venus Blue are on display at the Peoria Art Guild 203 Harrison Street - Peoria, Illinois 61602. Phone 309.637.2787

"Fact, Fallacy and Illusion: Historical African-American Imagery" is the title of this solo exhibit on display January 18 - March 1, 2008. Get there if you can! I twice saw Venus Blue quilts on display while visiting friends in Chicago. They were arresting. An exhibit of the same title was on display in 1996 at the Satori Fine Art Gallery in Chicago. According to PJStar.com, "Blue died of breast cancer in 1997 at the age of 46, and her daughter, Davina Sharee Frazier of Dunlap, has loaned her mother's works for the local exhibit. ... Before her death, Blue received numerous awards from Chicago arts and cultural groups as well as national fellowships and grants. Among her commissioned works is a Kwanzaa quilt at Chicago's Harper High School and quilts for the 100th anniversary of Jane Addams' Hull House in Chicago and South African Bishop Desmond Tutu." The quilts are remarkable. Enjoy!

Nora Ezell (1917 - 2007) Quilter & Author

Alabaman quilter and author Nora Ezell passed away on September 6, 2007. If you are not familiar with Mrs. Ezell's extraordinary quilts, then do be sure to get a copy of her book, "My Quilts and Me: The Diary of an American Quilter." This book is one of my absolute favorites in providing personal insights into why a black woman quilts, how she values and prices her quilts, how she decides on the fabrics to select, and goes about getting commissions. I only wish I could have met Mrs. Ezell in person.

Mrs. Ezell was the fourth of 10 children. Her mother, an expert seamstress, taught her to quilt and sew her clothes. She started making story quilts in 1979. One of her first quilts, which took over two years to complete, was a story quilt about Martin Luther King, Jr. Mrs. Ezell is one of several African American quilters to be honored with a National Heritage Fellowship Award. You can read her Award bio from 1992 by clicking here.

Here are a few links to learn more about Mrs. Ezell:

* Nora Ezell article by Mark Hughes Cobb - Tuscaloosa News (Al)

* Robert Cargo Folk Art Gallery, Caroline Cargo director

* USA Today article with photo of one of Mrs. Nora Ezell's quilts

Thank you to Caroline Cargo for letting me know about Mrs. Ezell. I'd be happy to forward to Mrs. Ezell's family any tributes or notes you'd like to leave here or email me personally. Best, Kyra

Our Dear Cuesta Benberry (1923 - 2007)

Our Dear Cuesta Benberry passed away yesterday. Our prayers are with her husband of more than 50 years, George, and her son George Jr. and his wife, Cuesta's grandchildren George III and Dawn and great-grands.

Funeral Arrangements

Visitation: 5pm to 9pm, Thursday, Aug 30, 2007 Funeral Service: 10am, Friday, Aug 31, 2007

St. Peter's AME Church, 4730 Margaretta Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63115 PH: 314.381.3345

Sign the Guest Book at Legacy.com Visit http://tinyurl.com/yuqxq3 for Cuesta's Guestbook.

Other tributes: From the Quilters Hall of Fame; the Washington Post newspaper; the New York Times; Cherryl Floyd-Miller on her blog; and Gwen Magee's blog.

Photo: Anyone Can Fly Foundation, 2004 Distinguised Scholars - Lifetime Achievement Award - quilt by Faith Ringgold.

Wilma Gary, 84, Sistah Quilter passes

The Minneapolis - St. Paul's, MN Star Tribune reports that Wilma Gary, 84, passed away. She was an active and noted Sistah Quilter. From the paper:

"Gary grew up on a rural Kansas farm, where she began quilting at age 8. Her quilts have been exhibited at the Minnesota Historical Society and the University of Minnesota's Goldstein Gallery in St. Paul.

"Gary seldom missed a chance to lecture about African-American quiltmaking before schools and other groups, including the Walker Art Center. Among her prized possessions were quilts made by her ancestors. One quilt is about 140 years old.

""Those women didn't make those quilts for exhibition back then," Gary told the Star Tribune in 1997. "They did it for the joy of making quilts or because somebody needed to stay warm or somebody had a lot of children and needed them, or somebody had a baby, or somebody graduated," she said. "My mother used to give me blocks of fabric and say, 'Now just sit down there and see what you can figure out.' " "

The article by Ben Cohen goes on to report that Mrs. Wilma Gary was head quilter at the Sabathani Senior Center for 20 years. She was also presented by the Minneapolis Textile Center with its 2007 Spun Gold Award. In 1997, the NewStandard featured Mrs. Gary in an article titled: How to make an African-American quilt: Family histories woven with spontaneity, improvisation. The photo here is features Mrs. Gary and Remi Douah.

Blessings to Mrs. Gary for her quilting legacy! Peace to her surviving family: sons Printice, Kenneth, Russell and daughters Janice, Hedy Gary and Alberta Hicks - and Mrs. Gary's host of grand, great grands, and even great-great grands.

Update. You can read more about Mrs. Gary: Douah, remi Kouessi-Tanoh. In her own words: Uncovering a life experience woven into the African American quiltmaking tradition (Wilma Gary). This is a dissertation in support of the author's Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, 2006.

Artist considers ... in case of death

I read several blogs - some for quilting, some for children's literature. One of my favorites is Don Tate II's blog - he's an illustrator of several kid's lit books as well as illustrator for fabrics (at right) and scrapbook pages. Don recently posted a note about an artist who passed away and Don wondered if he - an illustrator with many deals in progress - passed away if he was prepared.

As a quilter, have you .....

1. made a list of your quilts .... name, year, measurements, who owns, insurance value


2. made a list of where your quilts are on display so your family can get them back?


3. taken photographs of (all) your quilts


4. let your family know where your artist resume or bio is located


5. completed a will that includes any instructions for your quilts... and your FABRICS?

What other items should we as quilters consider?

Rosie Lee Tompkins (1936 - 2006)

Northern California sistah quilter and Arkansas native Rosie Lee Tompkins passed away last week.

I first became familiar with Tompkins' quilts from Eli Leon's catalog, Who'd a Thought It: Improvisation in African-American Quiltmaking: December 31, 1987 to February 28, 1988. Tompkins stitched incredibly colorful free-form, strip and string quilts. Her works were exhibited in solo shows at Anthony Meier Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA (2003), Peter Blum, New York, NY (2002), the Berkeley Art Museum (1997) and numerous group exhibitions. (Photo: Three Sixes, 1986)

Tompkins, a pseudonym, wished to remain anonymous. Whatever her real name, I'm glad her quilts were shared with us.

Cyril E. Carter, Jr Quilter & Vet

The Indianapolis Star reported yesterday that Mr. Cyril E. Carter, age 59, a Marine, Vietnam veteran, and Purple Heart award recipient, passed away last week. Mr. Carter needed a low stress hobby after learning he had a heart condition. He started to quilt and specialized in baby quilts, and even entered his quilts into the State Fair. Blessings to the Carter family.