Photo Of The Week: Quilts From The Stitching Time Exhibit At Augusta Savage Gallery
The Red Doors Of No Return.by Kenya, Sharif, and Maureen Kelleher (2018). Photo: Art Keene
Source: Augusta Savage Gallery
Stitching Time: The Social Justice Collaboration Quilt Project
Augusta Savage Gallery, New Africa House, 180 Infirmary Way, UMass, September 12 – December 9
Hours: Monday and Tuesday 1-7 p.m. Wednesday – Friday 1-5 p.m.
In 1997, incarcerated men serving life sentences at Louisiana State Penitentiary, known colloquially as “Angola” after the former plantation on which it is located, created a hospice program to care for the dying among them. To raise money for the program, the Angola hospice volunteers, themselves sentenced to life imprisonment, made and sold quilts. In 2012, one of the hospice quilters, Kenya, and his long-time friend, Maureen Kelleher, founded the Social Justice Collaboration Quilts Project. The goal of the project is to support artists who work behind prison walls and give voice to the political consciousness of imprisoned and free quilters. The project has since spread beyond Angola prison to include incarcerated quilters in other institutions.
This exhibition focuses on work made by the founders of the Social Justice Collaboration Quilts Project, Kenya, and Kelleher, and the first member of the Project, Sharif as well as Leonard Peltier, Zulu, Ramsey Orta, Abu Ali, Tex, Louisiana State Penitentiary Hospice Volunteers and inmates of Norton Correctional Facility. Their quilts address racial injustice in American history and celebrate Black creativity, thought, and political activism.
Each quilt in this exhibition is paired with an audio recording. The recordings were arranged by Kelleher and feature the quilters reflecting on their work, along with music that captures the spirit of the project. The exhibit can be viewed here.
On the final day of the exhibit, students from the Bard College’s Clemente Course for the Humanities will read their 100-word stories based on the quilts on display from 6 to 7:30 p.m. The reading is free and will be live-streamed here.
A Selection Of Quilts From The Show
Our feature, Photo of the Week, presents each week, a new picture by a local photographer. We invite local photographers to share their photographs here. Please include a description/caption and an indication of who is to be credited.