Touring Exhibits
The exhibits are the work of Crossroads Quilters, a group which won the Heritage Award of the Mississippi Governor’s Arts Awards 2000. They range from master crafters to apprentices, from old to young. They work from their imagination, their dreams, their everyday experiences, and sometimes from traditional quilt patterns, to create their unique visual statements. Techniques of appliqué, embroidery, piecing and quilting are all used and shared.
The exhibits are designed to be accessible to you and your public. Each exhibit consists of 12 quilts, and they can be booked individually or combined to form a larger exhibit. One of the exhibits features smaller pieces (none larger than 44" wide), and another highlights quilts made as collaborations between adult quilters and children.
Each quilt comes with an individual label and an introductory text panel is included with each exhibit. Each quilt has a sleeve for hanging.
The exhibits are available to educational and cultural institutions and other well-established organizations in the state of Mississippi for a fee of $500 per month. The borrowing institution provides proof of insurance and pays for transportation.
Included in the exhibit are quilts by Hystercine Rankin, Mary Ann Norton, and Geraldine Nash and Gustina Atlas, all named master folk artists by the Mississippi Arts Commission. Mrs. Rankin is also a winner of MAC's Susan B. Herron Fellowship Award, the Southern Arts Federation's Visual Arts Fellowship, and a 1997 National Heritage Award. Mrs. Atlas is also a winner of MAC's Susan B. Herron Fellowship Award.
Many of the collaborations with children are based on African folk tales or contemporary stories by African-American writers. Others are based on personal experiences and knowledge. Two of the most colorful are squares of self-portraits that the children executed.
The traveling exhibits are funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Mississippi Arts Commission.
For further information, send an email to mcc@msculturalcrossroads.org or call 601-437-8905.
Exhibits include:
CROSSROADS QUILTERS I
CROSSROADS QUILTERS II
CROSSROADS QUILTERS—MINIATURES
CROSSROADS QUILTERS— CHILDREN’S COLLABORATIONS