When Minneapolis became the epicenter of the nationwide protest movement against police brutality and racism in America following the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, Textile Center and Women of Color Quilters Network (WCQN) joined forces to create We Are the Story, a multi-venue initiative in the Twin Cities that runs from September 10, 2020, through June 12, 2021.
Under the curatorial direction of Carolyn Mazloomi, WCQN founder and member of Textile Center’s National Artist Advisory Council, We Are the Story explores themes of liberation, resistance and empowerment, offering a visually compelling account of the breadth of experiences and struggles that comprise Black history in an honest and critical way.
Given the urgency of these issues in America, quilters from around the nation worked under an extremely tight creative timeline. The calls were open in mid-June to all artists regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, race, religion, creed, gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity. 423 quilts were submitted by the July 31 deadline. Mazloomi selected 89 quilts for the two exhibitions that serve as the centerpiece for We Are the Story.
Select quilts will also be presented with community partners later this winter and spring including the University of Minnesota’s Weisman Art Museum, Division of Indian Work in South Minneapolis, the University of Minnesota’s Robert J. Jones Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center in North Minneapolis, Homewood Studios in North Minneapolis, Studio 106 in Burnsville, and St. Catherine University’s Apparel, Merchandising and Design Gallery.
Read the press release from the Textile Center on the entire project
At the Weisman
The Weisman’s installation will feature three works by artist Penny Mateer of Pittsburgh, PA. The works will be on display beginning October 15, 2020 until May 23, 2021.
A collaboration with Martha Wasik
Quilt 58″ x 77″ 2018
Commercial fabric, hand-cut newspaper collage, digital print, hand embroidered, machine pieced and quilted
Photo by Larry Berman
A collaboration with Martha Wasik
Quilt
94″ x 77″ 2015
Commerical fabric, photo transfer, custom commercially printed, machine pieced, appliquéd and quilted
Photo by Larry Berman
Hand-cut newspaper collage, fleece, digital print
Photo by Larry Berman
Penny Mateer
Penny Mateer, artist/activist, works with textiles and recycled materials. Her art is rooted in quilting and embroidery, traditionally thought of as “women’s work.” Drawing from this rich history of creating functional objects intended to provide warmth and comfort, she chooses fabric as her primary material to establish connection through shared experience and spark discussion around current events. Her social practice centers on a community-made public art project to promote voting. Mateer lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Carolyn Mazloomi
Historian, curator, author, lecturer, artist, mentor, founder, and facilitator — the remarkable and tireless Carolyn Mazloomi has left her mark on many lives. Trained as an aerospace engineer, she turned her sites and tireless efforts in the 1980s to bring the many unrecognized contributions of African American quilt artists to the attention of the American people as well as the international art communities. From the founding of the African-American Quilt Guild of Los Angles in 1981 to the 1985 founding of the WCQN, Carolyn has been at the forefront of educating the public about the diversity of interpretation, styles and techniques among African American quilters as well as educating a younger generation of African Americans about their own history through the quilts the WCQN members create. A major force as an artist in her own right, Carolyn’s quilts can be found in private collections around the world as well in distinguished museum collections in the United States.
