{"id":1445,"date":"2025-04-23T19:42:52","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T19:42:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thishabbo.com\/?p=1445"},"modified":"2025-04-29T11:55:07","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T11:55:07","slug":"of-salt-and-spirit-celebrates-the-legacy-of-black-southern-quilters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thishabbo.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/23\/of-salt-and-spirit-celebrates-the-legacy-of-black-southern-quilters\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Of Salt and Spirit\u2019 Celebrates the Legacy of Black Southern Quilters"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"‘Of<\/p>\n

You may have heard of the remarkable quilters of Gee’s Bend, but do you know about the Crossroads Quilters<\/a>, like Gustina Atlas? Or Hystercine Rankin? Mary Mayfair Matthews? You’re in luck if you have a chance to visit Of Salt and Spirit: Black Quilters in the American South<\/em> at the Mississippi Museum of Art<\/a>, which shines a light on dozens of incredible Black Southern quilters and takes a celebratory approach to showcasing their myriad styles and techniques.<\/p>\n

MMA is home to one of the South’s largest collections of quilts, from which more than 50 handmade and machine-stitched examples were drawn for this expansive exhibition. Merging research, interpretation, and community engagement, curator Dr. Sharbreon Plummer aimed for “a cohesive, experiential study of American art through a Black feminist lens.” The show parses cultural narratives around the art form, spotlighting the impact of the craft across generations and geography.<\/p>\n

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Emma Russell, “Star Quilt” (1978), cotton blend; hand-pieced, appliqu\u00e9d, and hand-quilted, 81 x 77 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A wide range of contemporary and historic pieces converge in Of Salt and Spirit, <\/em>including figurative and narrative works alongside vibrant geometric compositions. Many of the works were acquired by the museum from Roland L. Freeman (1936-2023), a photographer who documented African-American craftspeople and guilds in his work as a stringer for Time<\/em> magazine and Magnum Photos.<\/p>\n

Freeman collected more than 100 quilts, made several of his own, and published a couple of books on the subject. \u201cQuilts have the power to create a virtual web of connections\u2014individual, generational, professional, physical, spiritual, cultural, and historical,” he says in his second book, A Communion of the Spirits<\/em> (1996).<\/p>\n

In conjunction with the exhibition, the museum also highlights the large-scale, ongoing AIDS\u00a0Memorial Quilt<\/a> project, which was initiated in 1985 at the height of the epidemic. Paralleling Of Salt and Spirit’<\/em>s focus on creative expression, identity, and strength, the AIDS quilt\u2014of which a piece devoted to individuals from Jackson will be on display at MMA for a two-week period beginning May 5\u2014honors quilting for its role in resistance and remembrance.<\/p>\n

Of Salt and Spirit <\/em>continues through May 18 in Jackson. Plan your visit on the museum’s website<\/a>. You may also enjoy a look back at Souls Grown Deep Like the Rivers<\/a>, <\/em>a monumental survey recognizing the artistic traditions of Black artists.<\/p>\n

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Mary Mayfair Matthews, “Folk Scenes Quilt” (1992), rayon, cotton polyester blend, lace, lam\u00e9, and buttons; hand-pieced and appliqu\u00e9d, 86 1\/4 x 74 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Annie Dennis (designed by Roland L. Freeman), “Voodoo Quilt” (1987), fabric; hand-pieced, appliqu\u00e9d, hand-embroidered, and hand-quilted, 83 1\/2 x 64 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Detail of “Voodoo Quilt”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Gustina Atlas, “Variation on Dresden Plate Quilt” (1998), cotton; machine- pieced and hand-quilted, 81 1\/2 x 80 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Clancy McGrew, quilted and appliqu\u00e9d by Jeraline Nicholas, “Storytime at the Library” (2004), fabric; machine-pieced, appliqu\u00e9d, embroidered, and hand-quilted, 41 3\/4 x 83 1\/8 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Mabel Williams, “Improvisational Strip Quilt” (1968), cotton, polyester, wool, twill; hand-pieced and hand- quilted with appliqu\u00e9d and embroidered backing, 85 x 65 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Clancy McGrew, quilted by Tammy McGrew, “Clancy\u2019s Beauty Salon” (2004), fabric; machine-pieced, appliqu\u00e9d, and hand-quilted, 67 5\/8 x 49 1\/2 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Roland Freeman, “Maya Angelou, Author, Educator, and Quilter (top left and bottom right); Dolly McPherson, Maya Angelou, and Beverly Guy-Sheftall (top right and bottom left), Winston-Salem, North Carolina, November 1992” (1992), Chromogenic print with quilted mat (1996) by Anita Knox, 36 x 36 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Roland Freeman, “Catherine Gill with Sunburst Quilt (left) Made by Her Mother, Classy Blaylock, from
Decatur, Mississippi, Flagstaff, Arizona, April 1993″ (1993), Chromogenic print, 27 x 38 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member<\/a> today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article ‘Of Salt and Spirit’ Celebrates the Legacy of Black Southern Quilters<\/a> appeared first on Colossal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You may have heard of the remarkable quilters of Gee’s Bend, but do you know about the Crossroads Quilters, like Gustina Atlas? Or Hystercine Rankin? Mary Mayfair Matthews? You’re in luck if you have a chance to visit Of Salt and Spirit: Black Quilters in the American South at the Mississippi Museum of Art, which Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1447,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thishabbo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thishabbo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thishabbo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thishabbo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thishabbo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1445"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.thishabbo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1459,"href":"http:\/\/www.thishabbo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1445\/revisions\/1459"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thishabbo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thishabbo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thishabbo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thishabbo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}