#GeesBend Spring Yard Show: Tickets, times and what to expect. #MadeInAL for #WomensHistoryMonth www.al.com/life/2026/03...

Gee’s Bend quilter Annie Square has been named to Country Living’s Design 100, recognizing makers shaping contemporary design. Grounded in community, tradition, and resourcefulness, her quilts and bags carry Gee’s Bend’s living legacy forward.
#AnnieSquare #GeesBend #CountryLivingDesign100

Since its start, Souls Grown Deep has initiated and organized AotQ with the Gee’s Bend community. An economic impact study shows $700K+ in visitor spending and $191K+ in quilt sales to artists. In 2026, AotQ becomes fully community-owned and sustainable.
#SoulsGrownDeep #AotQ #GeesBend

New wayfinding signs are up in Gee’s Bend ✨

Designed + project-managed by SGD, with funding from the Alabama State Tourism Department. They help guide visitors while reflecting the spirit of the place itself.

Come see them in person and explore Gee’s Bend.
#GeesBend #AlabamaBlackBelt

Celebrating the makers of Gee’s Bend—artists, quilters, cooks, storytellers, and community leaders who shape the spirit of the Airing of the Quilts. Thank you for an extraordinary 2025.

Save the date: Oct 3, 2026.

#AiringOfTheQuilts #GeesBend #VisitGeesBend

How The Last Known American Slave Ship Sparked One Of The Nation’s Greatest Artistic Traditions An exhibition in Gee’s Bend, AL tells the story of Dinah Miller’s arrival and her enduring influence on the community, its traditions, and the history of American art.

www.forbes.com/sites/chadds...

Thoroughly reported article in #ForbesMagazine on current exhibition of @soulsgrowndeep.bsky.social in #GeesBend, Alabama

#geesbend #quilt #slavery #clotilda #americanhistory #soulsgrowndeepfoundation

Step inside Between History and Memory: Dinah Miller’s Legacy in Gee’s Bend at the River Gallery. Curated and supported by Souls Grown Deep, the exhibition shares archival materials, family histories, and work by her descendants. Details at www.geesbend.org.
#SoulsGrownDeep #GeesBend

Save the date: the 2026 Airing of the Quilts festival is set for Saturday, October 3, 2026 in Gee’s Bend, Alabama.
More details on registration, travel, and programming coming soon via www.visitgeesbend.org.

#AiringOfTheQuilts #GeesBend

Bluesky: Lucy T. Pettway’s Blazing Star (1968), in the MFA Boston collection, spins color and form into motion. Museum purchase and gift of Souls Grown Deep.
#LucyTPettway #GeesBend #SoulsGrownDeep

This work is held in the permanent collection at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund and partial gift of Souls Grown Deep.
#CreolaBennettPettway #GeesBend #HalfLogCabin #SoulsGrownDeep #VMFA #BlackWomenArtists #TextileArt #AmericanArt #QuiltHistory

Reflecting on Souls Grown Deep like the Rivers at the Royal Academy (March–June 2023), featuring Marlene Bennett Jones and other artists whose work speaks to the soul of the American South.
#SoulsGrownDeep #BlackArt #GeesBend #SGDArtists

Miss the festival? You can still bring a Gee’s Bend quilt into your home.
Explore fine art prints by Gee’s Bend quiltmakers—available on paper or canvas, with proceeds shared with the artists or their estates.
🔗 soulsgrowndeep.org
#GeesBend #SGDArtists #PrintsWithPurpose

Original post on mastodon.art

Not a lot of quilt pictures, but some fascinating quilt history in this article, including “Dinah Miller (née Jenkins) was the earliest known quiltmaker in Gee’s Bend … Illegally kidnapped from West Africa, torn from her family, and sold into slavery as a young girl in 1860, Miller was brought […]

The countdown is on! This Saturday, Gee’s Bend comes alive with quilts, stories, and celebration.
Visit the community that shaped a world-renowned art tradition—plus food trucks, music & more.
🔗 Register: airingofthequilts.org
#GeesBend #AiringOfTheQuilts #QuiltHeritage

Delia Bennett’s Housetop—fractured medallion variation (c. 1955) is in the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s collection—a testament to structure and improvisation.
#DeliaBennett #GeesBend #SoulsGrownDeep #TextileArt #PMA

Happy 90th to Mary Lee Bendolph! 🎉 The Gee’s Bend legend & 2023 Anonymous Was A Woman awardee has redefined American art through her quilting genius. Her legacy continues to inspire across generations. 📸: Joseph McCarthy
#MaryLeeBendolph #GeesBend #AWAW #SoulsGrownDeep

Opening Oct 5 during the Gee’s Bend Airing of the Quilts Festival, Between History and Memory honors Dinah Miller, the earliest known quilter in Gee’s Bend. Her story, traced through five generations of quiltmakers, unfolds at the River Gallery. Free to visit. #GeesBend #DinahMiller

Support the living legacy of Gee’s Bend. Become a Friend of the Bend and receive early festival access, exclusive events, a commemorative pin, and a place on the Members Tribute Quilt.
Join today!
#GeesBend #FriendOfTheBend #Quiltmakers #SupportArtists

At just 11 years old, Nettie Young made Stacked Bricks from fabric scraps her mother gave her. She later became co-manager of the Freedom Quilting Bee. The quilt is now in the @neworleansmuseumofart collection. #NettieYoung #GeesBend #FreedomQuiltingBee #NOMA

Quilts swayed, stories flowed, and generations gathered at the 2024 Airing of the Quilts Festival. A powerful celebration of Gee’s Bend. We’ll see you again Oct 4, 2025! Sign up for updates via airingofthequilts.org. #GeesBend photo: @rachelhayes #AiringOfTheQuilts #FestivalThrowback

Mary Lee Bendolph’s Arrow (2005) uses a bold triangle motif to reflect memory and identity. Made from fabric passed down through family, the quilt is on view in Gee’s Bend through Sept 15 as part of Just Look Where He Brought Me From. #MaryLeeBendolph #ArrowQuilt #GeesBend #QuiltArt

Behind the scenes at the Gee’s Bend Heritage Trail! Quilt markers are now installed across the community. Start your self-guided tour year-round from the Welcome Center. Maps available on-site or online. #GeesBend #HeritageTrail #QuiltMarkers #SoulsGrownDeep

While visiting the 2025 Airing of the Quilts Festival, don’t miss Between History & Memory at the River Gallery. The exhibition honors Dinah Miller, Gee’s Bend’s earliest known quilter. Her legacy still shapes the art world today. #GeesBend #AiringOfTheQuilts #DinahMiller #RiverGallery

Annie Bendolph taught her daughter Bettie Bendolph Selzer to quilt at age 10. “I always wanted to be like my mama,” she said. Annie’s work is now in the permanent collection of @metmuseum. Photo by Arthur Rothstein, 1937. #AnnieBendolph #GeesBend #MetMuseum #QuiltingLegacy

Prints by Gee’s Bend artists—Mary Lee Bendolph, Loretta Pettway, Essie & Louisiana Bendolph—are available now at Paulson Fontaine Press. Don’t miss their work in Personal to Political at Sarasota Art Museum, May 4–Aug 10, 2025. #GeesBend #PersonalToPolitical #PaulsonFontainePress

Spencertown (N.Y.) Academy Arts Center, in collaboration with Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy, presents “Gee’s Bend: The Next Generation,” an exhibition of more than 30 quilts, along with talks, workshops, and demonstrations by the celebrated makers, from July 11, 2025, through August 3, 2025. This is the first time this generation of Gee’s Bend quilters have traveled outside of their community in Alabama to present their works in such a major exhibition. The exhibition will be held in the Spencertown Academy Galleries and the nearby Austerlitz Historical Society Church. There will be six participating quilters: Loretta Pettway Bennett, Stella Mae Pettway, Emma Mooney Pettway, Polly Mooney Middleton, Sharon Ann Williams, and Andrea Pettway Williams. They are third and fourth generation Gee’s Bend women who learned the art and techniques from their mothers, grandmothers, and great grandmothers. There will also be a special appearance by Willie Joe Pettway, son of legacy quilter Lola Pettway, who will exhibit and discuss his late mother’s quilts. Gee’s Bend, Alabama, is a small, isolated community tucked into a bend of the Alabama River. Once a plantation, the slaves of Gee’s Bend were given the last name of the owner Pettway, and many of the quilters carry that name today. Originally, they made quilts from any available fabric, and used them to keep their families warm as their homes lacked electricity, running water, and heat. Somehow, despite the poverty and hard living conditions, an art form was born. The quilts are characterized by bold improvisational designs that are highly expressive and very personal to the maker. Discovered by the art world and made globally famous in the early 2000s, Gee’s Bend quilts are today in the permanent collection of over 30 leading art museums around the world. _The New York Times_ hailed Gee’s Bend quilts as “some of the most miraculous works of Modern Art America has produced.” Plans for “Gee’s Bend: The Next Generation” have been in the works for the past year and a half. Bouchard Hoe, a quilt collector, was astounded by the 2002 exhibition of Gee’s Bend quilts at the Whitney Museum, then traveled to Gee’s Bend to meet the quilters. With the support of Spencertown Academy, she worked with the Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy to bring this exhibition to the Northeast. “Gee’s Bend: The Next Generation” will kick off on Friday, July 11 from 5:00pm to 7:00pm at the Academy with an opening reception. Acclaimed contemporary artist ransome will be a special guest. He will speak about his paintings of Gee’s Bend quilters and one of his works will be on display courtesy of Carrie Haddad Gallery. Ransome applies the spontaneity of hip hop deejays in his art, along with the resourcefulness of rural quilters, who use what is at hand, assembling, collaging, creating, making something out of nothing. In addition, Willie Pettway will present five legacy quilts by his late mother, Lola Pettway (1941-1942), who was an iconic Gee’s Bend maker. Tickets are $100 (limited availability). **Gallery Hours & Locations** Fridays-Mondays: 11:00am to 5:00pm Free Admission The Gallery at Spencertown Academy 790 State Route 203, Spencertown, NY The Church at Old Austerlitz 11550 NY-22, Austerlitz, NY ## Next Generation Gee’s Bend Quilters Programming **Quilting Demonstrations** A unique experience and opportunity for guests to quilt alongside the artists on a large quilt frame, hear their stories, and enjoy the camaraderie of group quilting. Free Admission Saturday, July 12, 11:00am to 1:00pm: The Church at Old Austerlitz Sunday, July 13, 10:00am-12:00pm: Spencertown Academy Arts Center in the Blanche Grubin Auditorium **Quilting Workshops** The Gee’s Bend quilters guide participants in designing and sewing a 12″ by 12″ quilt block suitable for framing to take away with them. Making the block consists of designing and piecing the top, adding batting and backing, and then hemming to completion. All materials are provided. Workshops will be held at Spencertown Academy Art Center in the Blanche Grubin Auditorium. Sunday, July 13: 1:30pm to 5:00pm Monday, July 14: 10:00am to 1:30pm Registration required (Academy members: $250, Non-members: $275) Maximum number of participants: 10 per session **Lecture** “Gee’s Bend: The Legacy Lives On” Spencertown Academy Board Member Lisa Bouchard Hoe will discuss the long tradition of American quilting and how Gee’s Bend quilts—made for use, not display—caused a major shift in thinking about what constitutes a quilt. She will also discuss the changes global fame brought to the Gee’s Bend community, and how the legacy of the original quilters not only lives on, but has grown to embrace the younger generation.Saturday, July 19: 2:00pm: The Church at Old Austerlitz Free admission This program is made possible with the support of platinum sponsors Hudson River Bank and Trust (HRBT) Foundation, Diane D. Kern, TKG Real Estate, The Upstate Theater Coalition for a Fairgame; gold sponsors Carrie Haddad Gallery, Paul Cassidy and Vernon Evanson, Thalia Cassutto, Victoria Dinardo and Stephen Montefiore, Sherry and Phil Meeks, Nick Van Alstine; and silver sponsors Cindy and Carl Atkins, Joanne Williams Bilotti and Richard Bilotti, Corinne Jones and Oren Knopp, MetzWood Insurance, Karen Milton, and Nadia Connors and Walton Goggins. The Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy was born in 1966 as an outgrowth of the civil rights movement and as a beacon of hope. Their story is one of strength, artistry, and resilience of African American women who know they have the power to create their own future. Learn more at fqblegacy.org. Founded in 1972, Spencertown Academy Arts Center is housed in a landmark 1847 Greek Revival schoolhouse**.** It is a cultural center and community resource serving Columbia County, the Berkshires, and the Capital region. For more information and to register for workshops and purchase opening reception tickets, please see spencertownacademy.org.

Traveling exhibit of Gee’s Bend quilters coming to a few places in New York, including some lectures, workshops and demonstrations over the next couple weeks

www.seegreatart.art/next-generation-gees-ben...

#Quilting #QuiltingNews #GeesBend

Loretta Pettway Bennett’s Medallion, now on view at @immaireland, is also available as a fine art print. Printed on canvas or paper, each purchase supports Black artists through a revenue-sharing model. Link in bio. #LorettaPettwayBennett #GeesBend #SoulsGrownDeep

Have you registered for the 2025 Gee’s Bend Airing of the Quilts Festival? Happening Oct 4! Join us for quilts, workshops, music, and more. Don’t miss it—register now: airingofthequilts.org #AiringOfTheQuilts #GeesBend #QuiltFestival

🧵The quilts of #GeesBend bold and deeply rooted in African American tradition, turning scraps into stories. Made by generations of Black women in rural Alabama, these fiber masterpieces now hang in museums.

This is craft as resistance, memory, and art. #Art

www.soulsgrowndeep.org/gees-bend-qu...

The #GeesBend quilts and those of south communities are so amazing. Their brilliance in their abstract simplicity, complex stories are stitched.
#Juneteenth