Carolyn Mazloomi - 2014 NEA National Heritage Fellow

Congratulations to Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi, a force in American quilting!

Dr. Mazloomi has been named a 2014 National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow for her lifetime contribution to African American Quilt preservation, documentation, exhibition and advocacy. The honor comes with a $25,000 prize, according to the Cincinnati enquirer.com.

Mark your calendars if you can get to Washington, DC.... the NEA invites the public to attend the National Heritage Fellowship Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, September 17, 2014 at 5 p.m. in Room 119 of the Library of Congress's Thomas Jefferson Building at 10 First Street SE in Washington, DC. Come cheer on Dr. Mazloomi and other 2014 Fellows. No tickets are required.

On a personal note, I read about Dr. Mazloomi in a quilting magazine back in 1990ish. I mailed her a photograph of my first quilted wallhanging - along with a self-addressed, stamped envelop. She graciously sent me back a letter encouraging me to continue to quilt - and to send her a photo of my next piece. Over the next few years, she prodded me to "quilt bigger" and have the courage to stitch a full-size bed quilt. Her early, early support made a significant difference in my life.  The Lord knows my quilts would never have received the exposure they have without Dr. Mazloomi - and I'm sure many Black Threads Blog readers feel the same.  Feel free to leave a message below on how Dr. Mazloomi has influenced your quilting.  Thanks!

Congratulations Dr. Mazloomi! 

the National Heritage Fellowship Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, September 17, 2014 at 5 p.m. in Room 119 of the Library of Congress's Thomas Jefferson Building at 10 First Street SE in Washington, DC. NEA Chairman Jane Chu and members of Congress will present the awards to the recipients. - See more at: http://arts.gov/news/2014/nea-celebrates-folk-and-traditional-arts-free-concert#sthash.TW2v25mi.dpuf

National Heritage Fellowship Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, September 17, 2014 at 5 p.m. in Room 119 of the Library of Congress's Thomas Jefferson Building at 10 First Street SE in Washington, DC. NEA Chairman Jane Chu and members of Congress will present the awards to the recipients. This event is open to the public and no tickets are required. - See more at: http://arts.gov/news/2014/nea-celebrates-folk-and-traditional-arts-free-concert#sthash.TW2v25mi.dpuf

National Heritage Fellowship Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, September 17, 2014 at 5 p.m. in Room 119 of the Library of Congress's Thomas Jefferson Building at 10 First Street SE in Washington, DC. NEA Chairman Jane Chu and members of Congress will present the awards to the recipients. This event is open to the public and no tickets are required. - See more at: http://arts.gov/news/2014/nea-celebrates-folk-and-traditional-arts-free-concert#sthash.TW2v25mi.dpuf

Laverne Brackens, Texas Quilter is an Award Recipient!

Congratulations to Laverne Bracken of Fairfield, Texas for receiving one of nine 2011 National Endowments for the Arts National Heritage Fellowships for her quilting. You can see more of Mrs. Bracken's quilt at the Quilts and Stories by Sherry Ann blog. You can click here to read about seven other African American quilters who have been Fellowship recipients in the past. Enjoy!

African American Quilt Circle wins 2010 Indies Art Award

Congratulations to the African American Quilt Circle (Durham, NC) for winning a 2010 Indies Art Award for their extraordinary community contributions! The award is from the local community newspaper. The guild has about 60 members. Click here to read the newspaper story. Enjoy!

Tina Williams Brewer Receives Lifetime Achievement Award!

Congratulations to Tina Williams Brewer for receiving the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to the area's cultural richness! She was honored on June 12th, which the Pittsburgh City Council declared as Tina Williams Brewer Day! You Go Sistah Quilter!

There is also a book titled "Tina Williams Brewer: Guided by the Ancestors" available from PCA for $25 - contact Jen Carter, Shop Manager, 412-361-0873, shop@pittsburgharts.org for info on how to purchase the book. (Photo here from a Pittsburgh City Paper article.) Enjoy!

40 Acres Art Gallery - $15,000 quilt exhibit grant

Congratulations to the 40 Acres Art Gallery in Sacramento, CA. Recently they received a $15,000 grant from the Sacramento Region Community Foundation for a project called: "Amazing Wonders: Quilts by African Americans of the Northern California Region."

According to the Gallery, Amazing Wonders will bring the private collections of over 30 quilts by artists from the Sacramento area to "preserve the cultural craft of quiltmaking and bridge the generational divide with today’s youth by creating a digital photo self-portrait quilt." The grant will also cover an all-day community quilt-making session with community residents. Again, congrats!

Harriet Powers inducted into the Georgia Women of Achievement Hall of Fame

Harriet Powers (1837 - 1910) is one of three women to be inducted into the Georgia Women of Achievement Hall of Fame! The 18th annual induction ceremony takes place this Thursday, March 12, 2009 at Wesleyan College in Macon, GA.

Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter first suggested the idea of honoring the history and contributions of Georgia women in 1988. Soon what would become the Georgia Women of Achievement, Inc. was formed with the goals of: publicizing the accomplishments of GA women, encouraging research in this area, and providing information on such role models for Georgia young people.

Best wishes on a lovely ceremony - hope there are a few sistah quilters in the audience as the crowd honors Sistah Quilter Harriet Powers. Enjoy!

Maria Cole Receives Gift Quilt

Maria Cole, widow of music legend Nat “King” Cole, received a commemorative quilt in June during a program at the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum State Historic Site in Sedalia, North Carolina. Mrs. Cole was a niece of Mrs. Brown. Wish we knew who stitched this quilt!

Gwendolyn Magee - 2007 USA Fellow

Congratulations to Sistah Quilter Gwen Magee for her recent honor - becoming a 2007 United States Artist Fellow! The USA Fellows organization will distribute 150 unrestricted fellowship grants of $50,000 each to artists across the USA over a three year period. The artists represent fields as diverse as: Architecture and Design, Crafts and Traditional Arts, Dance, Literature, Media, Music, Theater Arts, and Visual Arts. Read more about Gwen in the Jackson (MI) Free Press newspaper. Sistah Quilter Gwen - You Go Girl!

Connie Horne Wins for Quilted Coat - It's HOT

Feeling cold this winter? Check out this GORGEOUS quilted coat designed and stitched by Elk Grove, CA Sistah Quilter Connie Horne!

Ms. Horne, who is a member of the Elk Grove Quilt Guild, won a second place ribbon and $500 in the wearable art category at the 2007 Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara. Her “African Village Coat Ensemble,” consisted of a quilted coat, vest, pants and purse. The creation cost Horne about $150 to make, according to her local newspaper. (Photo by Laura Bemis)

“Give Me My Flowers,” one of Horne’s creations was published in “Snip It Sensations Bouquets” by Cindy Walters in 2002. Congratulations Connie!

Anyone Can Fly Foundation auction in NY

Will you be in New York on October 14, 2007? Do stop by the ACA Gallery for the Anyone Can Fly Foundation Auction and Exhibition. Works by Dr. Samella Lewis - the 2007 foundation Scholar's Lifetime Achievement awardee.

If you're in the Washington DC area Sept 26, you can congratulate Sistah Quilter Faith Ringgold. The Congressional Wives of the Black Caucus honors her with an award at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

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

Roland Freeman Honored by National Endowment for the Arts!

Congratulations to Roland Freeman, one of 12 recipients of the National Endowment of the Arts - National Heritage Fellowships. According to the NEA:

"Roland Freeman, recommended as the Bess Lomax Hawes Award recipient, was inspired by the socially conscious Depression-era photography of Gordon Parks and Roy DeCarava as well as the Farm Security Administration photographers. At age 14, he met the author/folklorist Zora Neale Hurston, who also greatly influenced his life's work. A native of Baltimore, he began photographing in the DC area in the late 1960s. In 1968, he participated in and documented the Poor People's Campaign and the Mule Train trip from Marks, MS, to the nation's capital. Even while working as a stringer for Time and Magnum Photos, including coverage as a White House photographer, his real passion throughout his career has been the documentation of Southern folk culture."

Freeman is a pillar in preserving African American quilt and quilting history! He has documented sistah and brother quilters since his landmark Something to Keep You Warm: The Roland Freeman Collection of Black American Quilts from the Mississippi Heartland (1981). Raise your hand if you're one of the many quilters Roland Freeman photographed over a twenty year period and captured in the must-have book and must-see exhibit A Communion of the Spirits: African American Quilters, Preservers, and Their Stories. Freeman photographed quilters in more than 38 US states. Friends thought I was crazy when I invited Mr. Freeman to stay at my home in Kansas City when he made his cross-country trip to capture quilters in the Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska area.... I had never met him, but was amazed by his National Geographic photographs. A collection of Mr. Freeman's quilts are at the Smith Robertson Museum in Jackson, MS. Blessings to Roland Freeman for the NEA honor! (Photo: Self-portrait of Roland L. Freeman with nine of his quilts.)

NEA National Heritage Fellows - Quilters

The National Endowment for the Arts - National Heritage Fellowship is one of the highest honors the U.S. Government bestows on a traditional artist. Over 300 artists have been honored since the first year in 1982. Carver and painter Elijah Pierce of Columbus, OH received an award in 1982. Honored African American quilters and those who have so lovingly preserve our quilt heritage are listed below. Click on each name to read NEA bio.

• Roland Freeman, author of A Communion of the Spirits - 2007
• Mozell Benson, quilter from Opelika, AL - 2001
• Hystercine Rankin, quilter from Lorman, MS - 1997
• Nora Ezell, quilter from Eutaw, AL - 1992
• Gussie Wells, quilter from Oakland, CA - 1991
• Arbie Williams, quilter from Oakland, CA - 1991
• Lucinda Toomer, quilter from Columbus, GA - 1983

Gwen Slams with Textile Arts Resource Guide Blog!

Gwen Magee SLAMS with her new blog - Textile Arts Resource Guide - the invaluable reference to online resources for artists like us who LOVE fabrics and textiles. A few blog topics include:

* Regional Art Councils - comprehensive list, including fellowships!
* State Art Councils - state-by-state URL listing!

Gwen Magee's own narrative and abstract quilts are featured on the full-length book, Journey Of The Spirit: The Art Of Gwendolyn A. Magee. Or, you can visit her website at GwenMagee.com. Enjoy!

One Room KY School - Quilt Show

If you happen to be near Fredonia, KY, visit the grand opening of the Wilson-Blair One Room School and see the special Antique and African-American Quilt Show beginning Monday, April 23, and running through Sunday, April 29, 2007. The school educated students in grades 1 - 8 from from 1926 until 1948. The school is named in memory of two former school caretakers, Jesse Blair and James “Sug” Wilson. (Photo is of Angelia Blair and her grandmother, Virginia Blair, wife of caretaker Jesse Blair.)

The History Channel gave a grant to restore the school through its Save Our History program, which is still open for 2007 grant applications! The school received a $10,000 grant and involved local students in the restoration process.

For more information about the Wilson-Black One Room School and quilt show, contact Fredonia Heritage Committee member Linda Bennett at (270) 963-1255 or Tammie Sanders at (270) 963-0409. (Source: The Times-Leader)