Art Museum honors African-American tradition and local historian
By Meliqueica Meadows
Of the St. Louis American
The Saint Louis Art Museum recently held a celebration of African-American quilts, which was part recognition of local quilt historian Cuesta Benberry and part education seminar on the subject. The event marked the opening of the museum’s current textile installation African American Quilts: A Storied Tradition, on display through April 16. Benberry is a St. Louis-area historian who is recognized as a pioneer in the study of African-American quilting.
“This has been a wonderful time for me,” Benberry said as she reflected on the opening of the exhibit and her many years as a quilt historian. “Not only have I learned a lot, but I’ve made so many friends.”
One of Benberry’s lifelong friends is Kyra Hicks, a fellow quilter and author of Black Threads: An African American Quilting Sourcebook. At the ceremony honoring Benberry and marking the opening of the exhibit, Hicks gave a brief history of African-American quilting.
Hicks said the tradition could be traced back to around 1896, and the popularity of the activity grew as colored women’s organizations were formed and began to blossom. She said members would gather in quilting-bees to produce intricate quilts that they would later raffle to raise money to fund their organizations. For decades, Benberry has traveled the country collecting stories and information about the tradition.
“Cuesta Benberry has been vital to quilting history,” Hicks said. “She’s one of the leading authorities on quilt patterns in the country.”
Throughout a distinguished career that has spanned nearly 50 years, Benberry has published several books and numerous articles that document her innovative and influential research.
Hicks is a self-taught quilter who uses the craft to explore political, religious, family and romantic themes and create original story quilts that document her experiences as a young, black, single woman. Her quilts have been shown in more than 30 group exhibitions in venues such as the American Craft Museum in New York, the Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C. and the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut.
The Saint Louis Art Museum’s textile installation include an original quilt, Whig Rose, which was created by slave labor on a plantation near Richmond, Kentucky around 1860. Other pieces in the exhibit are a Pine Burr pattern quilt made recently by Lucy Mingo in the rural Alabama community of Gees Bend and an award-winning quilt created in honor of Benberry by Faith Ringgold, a renowned artist known for her painted story quilts.
In 2004, Benberry received the lifetime achievement award for her distinguished scholarship from the Anyone Can Fly Foundation. The organization was established by Ringgold to aid African Americans in the arts. As a part of her award, Benberry was given the quilt that Ringgold created in her honor.
Co-organized by Andrew Walker, curator of American art and assistant director for curatorial affairs, and textile conservator Zoe Annis Perkins, the African American Quilts: A Storied Tradition installation is on view in Gallery 327 through April 16.
Admission to the Saint Louis Art Museum is free to all every day and featured exhibition admission is free on Fridays. Call 314.721.0072 or visit www.slam.org.
