For generations, the women of Gee's Bend, a small sliver of land in rural Alabama, have made quilts. Their hallmark is vibrant colors woven together with scraps of fabric.
Once a plantation, the slaves of Gee's Bend originally made quilts from any available fabric, from clothing to flour sacks. It was meant to keep their families warm in cold months since their homes lacked electricity, running water, and heat.
Several decades later, the quiltmakers are now recognized for creating a uniquely American art form.
WUSF's Cathy Carter spoke with Loretta Pettway Bennett, a fifth-generation quiltmaker. The artist will speak about her craft on Saturday at the Sarasota Art Museum.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
Loretta, your home of Gee's Bend is surrounded on three sides by the Alabama River, and you grew up in a community of farmers.
Yes, everyone had something to do. Even if you was 4 or 5 years old, you could still carry some water to someone out in the fields, or you could shell peas, feed the animals. No one didn't have a job or chore to do.
Quilt making was passed down from mothers to daughters for generations. But it didn't start as a creative expression. It was much more practical.
Yeah, the women didn't have time to think about making art. It was a necessity that they had some coverings because the houses weren't insulated. They were just making something to keep warm, and they were just using what they had.
Do you remember how old you were when you made your first quilt?
Yes, I was about 12 or 13 one summer, and it was a very complicated quilt for a 12-year-old, I would have to say. It was a flower garden and it was an octagon shape. I did all the sewing myself all summer long. It was kind of a little lopsided, but my mom straightened it out and she fixed it.
In 1966, your mom, the other quilters from Gee's Bend and the surrounding areas, formed the Freedom Quilting Bee. Their work started to get noticed, and in 2002, it was installed for the first time in a museum exhibit. So, what was it like seeing the quilts sewn by your mom and your aunts in this kind of surrounding?
Oh, it was mind-blowing. And the quilts looked different on the wall. And I just questioned myself, thinking, you know, one day maybe I could have my quilts hanging up in a museum, and I was like, there's no way that would ever happen. I ended up naming a quilt 'No Way, No Way,' because I always thought art was painting, not quilts.
So, when I got to see mine in that same museum, it was like an out-of-body experience. I thought I was dreaming. And to see the reaction of the people who came to see it.
People was crying, and they was just so touched by the quilts. And I couldn't, at the time, understand what they were seeing. I'm like, I don't see what they're seeing. They are saying this is art, but these are quilts.
Do you see it now?
Yes, I see it now.
And you ventured into a new medium — printmaking several years ago. Tell us about the process of translating quilts to prints.
At first, when I was approached to do this, I was like, how could you make something like a quilt into a print?
But I said, OK, I will try it. This was in 2006, and I started making little smaller pieces, which they call marquettes. And it was basically the same as making a quilt. You just make the pieces smaller.
It was fun watching how you put the pieces together to make a print. You transfer it onto a copper plate, and use wax and mix the colors and roll it through the press. When it comes out, it looked just like the original piece. They are gorgeous, definitely fine art.
What is your artistic process like these days?
I work on several quilts at a time. I also teach class. I do something called vacation with an artist. That's where other artists come in, and they learn the Gee's Bend style of quilting, how we piece quilts together, how we lay them out and do the hand quilting.
I do a lot of things. I paint my quilts on canvas, and I do other mixed media, and it all centers around quilts.
And for the new generations in Gee's Bend, what do you see as the future for quilt making?
I think quilting will always be around, and I think it will continue in Gee's Bend, and I hope around the world.
I think we inspire a lot of people, some who never even thought about picking their hands up to do anything like this, because it's so therapeutic. And it costs less than going to therapy.
There's a quote that Edgar Degas said about art, and he said that "art is not what you see, but what you make others see."
That is what our quilts are, what we see, we see as quilts, but to others, they see art.
Personal to Political: Celebrating the African American Artists of Paulson Fontaine Press is on view at the Sarasota Art Museum through Aug. 10.
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