Columbia County Exhibit Showcases the Next Generation of Gee's Bend Quilters

A summer show in Columbia County features the bold and expressive designs crafted by the next generation of quilting artists from Gee’s Bend. Spread out over two sites, the show brings together more than 30 quilts highlighting the art and tradition of the historic Black community.

Spencertown Academy Arts Center worked with the Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy to coordinate the show, which opened on July 12 and runs through August 3. The six participating quilters are all women from the community who are carrying on the legacy after learning the craft from their mothers, grandmothers, and even great-grandmothers.

An influential exhibit in 2002, which travelled from the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston to the Whitney, brought the story of Gee’s Bend to international attention. The women of the isolated community, descendants of those enslaved on the Pettway plantation, crafted quilts for practical use, but their eye for color and pattern created a unique, American art form.

Many of the current quilters are exhibiting their work for the first time. Their artistry will be on display in the Spencertown Academy Arts Center, a Greek Revival former schoolhouse, and the Austerlitz Historical Society Church just a few miles away. Both spaces are free and open to the public from Fridays to Mondays between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.

While the workshops and demonstrations scheduled as part of the show have already taken place, there is still a lecture on Saturday, July 19. Full information about the exhibit and the show can be found on the exhibit page online.

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