On the Road to Spring

Well it has been tough going over here.  I was in shock for quite a while but am on to making work and thinking about the future.  In the world of art lots of good things have been happening.  The Neighborhoods Coming Together Project that I curated for African American Quilt Guild of Oakland is now exhibiting at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY.

This is a link to their video about the project.  I also spoke on local public radio.  The project has provided lots of learning for me and members of the guild.

National Quilt Guild of Oakland

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWNHGETwn48

On a personal note, I also had the quilt I made about the Gwendolyn Brooks poem, Annie Allen exhibit at the Alper Jewish Community Center Gallery from the the first week of January until the first week of February.  Interpreting Annie made its exhibition premier at the US Consulate in Jerusalem in 2013 and was there for 2 years.  The poem and quilt tell the story of a woman's life from childhood until older age.  I don't say old age because as I get older the dates keep changing.  There is a companion quilt about the poem called Annie's Life that is touring with the And Still We Rise exhibit, that is presently at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, Kalamazoo, MI.  It will be there until June 4th.

Of course I am equally excited about a new piece I made for the Prince exhibit at the Textile Center, Minneapolis, MN that opened on March 9th.  Here are a few photos.

All the Pretty Women:  One Last Party speaks to the women in Prince's life and the parties he enjoyed giving.

See you next time.

Happy New Year and what is there to be happy about?

As we move forward in this new year, I am thankful for family, friends and that I live in California.  There are many challenges in the days, weeks and months ahead and I feel confident that we are up to the task.  Activism and advocacy are becoming increasingly important to me and I ponder ways to make art that positively addresses my concerns for our nation.

In the meantime I will continue by throwback tour of art in the Obama years.  These are from the 2009 Quilt Week Yokohama exhibit about Journey of Hope.