Threaded 

February 2, 2024 – May 24, 2024

 

Threaded at the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art presents a selection of quilts and contemporary artworks created by Black women working in textiles. This show is spun from seven newly-conserved quilts from Gee’s Bend, Alabama in the Spelman College permanent collection, and one from Clark Atlanta University’s collection. Threaded places Gee’s Bend quilts and prints in conversation with contemporary artworks made from materials and techniques that expand beyond the category of “quilt.” This exhibition features tapestries made of cotton, kente cloth, silk, wool, sateen, corduroy, chiffon, pima cloth, polyester, lace, velvet, and hand-dyed fabrics – adorned with cowrie shells, beads, broaches, and floating on wall paper. The works are united by materials, and a legacy of women using fabrics from around the house to keep loved ones warm, and to bear witness to our stories.



Artists featured in Threaded

 

Louisiana Bendolph

Mary Lee Bendolph

Polly Bennett

Willie Ann Benning

Bisa Butler

Helen McBride Richter

Flora Moore

Ruth Pettway Mosely

Ebony G. Patterson

Loretta Pettway

Bettie Bendolph Seltzer

Phyllis Stephens

Sonie Joi Thompson-Ruffin

Qualeasha Wood

Billie Zangewa

HIGHLIGHTS

Play Video

The Black American Portraits Symposium opening conversation moderated by author Naima Keith and featuring artists Bisa Butler, Calida Rawls, and Amy Sherald.

The Spelman College Museum of Fine Art partnered with the Atlanta University Center Art History + Curatorial Studies Collective to host “Black American Portraits: A Symposium” on Mar. 2-3 in the Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby, Ed.D., Academic Center Auditorium.

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The Harmonia Rosales: Master Narrative exhibition opened with an artists talk between Harmonia Rosales and Spelman Professor Emeritus, Arturo Lindsay. In this conversation about art and the African diaspora, they discuss art-making, identity, and the influence of the orishas.

Originally filmed August 18, 2023 in front of a live audience in the Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby, Ed.D. Academic Center Auditorium.

Play Video
Spelman alumna, Ming Joi Washington, C’22 recites her poem, which was debuted at the Black American Portrait Symposium in March 2023. The poem is an ekphrastic ode to the exhibition which references 44 artworks on view.
 
Ming Joi Washington is a Chicago-born poet, curator, and communications strategist passionate about Black feminist aesthetics, performance and personal narrative. She is a graduate of the AUC Art Collective at Spelman College in 2022. 

UPCOMING PROGRAMS

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What Our Visitors Say

From our
"Tell Us What You Think" wall.

Running into good friends and inspiring people, amongst extraordinary art!
- Museum Visitor
I enjoy celebrating blackness!!
- Museum Visitor
I could have stayed forever by the following work of art because...Calida Rawles Thy Name We Praise because I felt immersed in the deep blue water myself...
- Museum Visitor
I thoroughly enjoy witnessing Spelman students experiencing these images for the first time. The invitation to interact has also elicited glee, smiles, laughter, and sustained interest and attention, which is a rarity these days. It is a Balm in Gilead.
- Museum Visitor
I enjoyed the paintings, they were very vibrant and they made me feel like I was at home, comfy, cozy, and creative. The artwork persuaded me that art is not just colors, shapes, and lines but it is a feeling.
- Museum Visitor
You learn a lot about history, but also the present and future through each work.
- Museum Visitor