Past Exhibitions: Norris University Center

Dr. Tracy L. Vaughn-Manley and Sister Quilters; Betty Joy Bonds and Melissa Blount

Quilting has long been recognized as an important facet of American history, and individual quilts have themselves been sought out as important historical documents. Making quilts was predominantly a domestic chore done by women. It was not only a way to provide warmth for a family, but also an opportunity to practice household economy through the repurposing of fabrics. Quilts became in effect relics of a family’s life over time, pieces with a wide variety of cast-off textiles like outgrown clothing, worn linens, or remnants left over from sewing projects. In addition, quilting was often a group activity; affording women the chance to work together, exchange ideas, and share stories and information. The multi-generational aspect of quilting, with techniques typically taught to younger women by their elders, allowed the legacy of a family or even a community to be preserved. Thus, to look at a quilt today is to behold history.

The lush quilts featured in this exhibition were made by Dr. Tracy L. Vaughn-Manley, an Assistant Professor in the Department of African American Studies here at SM��ϼ�, Mrs. Bettye Joy Bonds of Chicago, and Evanston’s Dr. Melissa Blunt. For Vaughn-Manley, Bonds, and Blunt, these quilts represent the resilience and progress of Black Americans in general and Black American women in particular. The beauty of these quilts then is that they pay homage to their domestic, traditional, utilitarian roots, while at the same time are formal expressions of enduring artistic themes: the beauty of spontaneity; the energy of motion; the importance of remembrance, and the imaginative use of color.

Two of the primary characteristics that distinguish the quilts made by these Sister Quilters are their use of non-traditional materials and the improvised methods in which they use them. Rather than being pieced together by hand from fragments of rough, leftover fabrics, as was originally the tradition, they are crafted from the finest cotton, silks, velvets, and wools available. They are spontaneous compositions sewn without patterns or--in many cases--sewing machines. Dr. Vaughn-Manley’s quilt artistry is done primarily by hand, relying on color and fabric pattern to determine what goes where until the quilt “feels” complete. “Quilts are more and more frequently being presented in museums and exhibition spaces as high art,” says Dr. Vaughn-Manley. “In this context, the quilts are no longer useful, intimate bed coverings but are rather transformed into objects that invite one to reflect on their beauty and the ways in which quilts are also representative of American cultural expression overall.”

Like all forms of expressive arts, quilts have a life of their own and have played an important role in the history of Black American folk art specifically and American folk art in general. However, for Vaughn-Manley, Bonds, and Blunt, quilts and the process of quilting have been and will continue to be literal and figurative cultural signifiers for protection and warmth; creativity and community; and the brilliance, resilience, and radiance of Black American people.

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