Voices Through Cloth

An important new quilting exhibition opens at the James Museum in Florida.

Historian, author and artist Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi has curated an exhibition of contemporary quilts, Black Pioneers: Legacy in the American West, at the James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art in St. Petersburg, Florida, through January 8, 2023.

All of the pieces are quilts designed and made by members of the Women of Color Quilters Network founded by Mazloomi in 1985.

“Quilts and quilt making are important to America and Black culture in particular,” Mazloomi says, “because the art form was historically one of the few mediums accessible to marginalized groups to tell their own story, to provide warmth for their families and to empower them with a voice through cloth.”Sandra Noble, Annie Box Neal, 2021. © Sandra E. Noble.

Connie Horne has been quilting since 2000 and often depicts historical events. Black Miners, 2021, depicts men panning for gold along the banks of a brilliant blue river. In 1849, a small group of free African American miners established a mining claim at Negro Bar on the American River near Sacramento, California, in what would become the following year, the “free” state of California. A number of slaves went to the gold fields with their masters. Despite the state’s free status, it was still illegal for slaves to flee their masters. Connie Horne, Black Miners, 2021. © Connie Horne.

Sandra Noble honors Annie Box Neal, 2021, of both Cherokee and Black heritage. She and her husband built the Mountain View Hotel in Oracle, Arizona, which features prominently in the quilt along with press clippings about the hotel and Neal’s prowess as “the queen of hostesses.” Noble says, “After retirement from teaching visual arts for 34 years, I enrolled in a quilting class at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The instruction followed a traditional quilting method, but I was encouraged to experiment beyond the parameters of the method. This quilting experience gave me inspiration to return to making wall hangings. But now, I cut, fuse, and sew together a variety of fabrics, yarns, threads and stuff into a multitude of rich colors and textures to make quilted art that glorify nature and my African American heritage.”Guests look at works by John Nieto at the James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art.

Mazloomi says, “As an artist, I strongly believe art has the capacity to touch the spirit, engage, educate, and heal in ways that words alone cannot.” —

Black Pioneers: Legacy in the American West
Through January 8, 2023
The James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art, 150 Central Avenue, St. Petersburg, FL 33701
(727) 892-4200
www.thejamesmuseum.org