Gee's Bend Airing Of The Quilts Festival, Exhibition, And Heritage Trail Expansion Opens In October

Souls Grown Deep has announced that the annual Gee's Bend Airing of the Quilts Festival will take place on Saturday, October 12, accompanied by the unveiling of a new addition to the Gee's Bend Heritage Trail and an exhibition exploring the work of renowned quilter Mary Lee Bendolph. The three programs are part of Souls Grown Deep's ongoing community reinvestment and cultural tourism initiatives, continuing the organization's long-standing collaboration with the Gee's Bend community to advance recognition of the quilters and promote economic development in and increased visitorship to the region.

Now in its third year, the Airing of the Quilts Festival celebrates the rich creative legacy of Gee's Bend, Alabama with a contemporary homage to the practice of hanging vibrant handmade quilts outside of homes to air out from seasonal storage. The day-long public festival is the preeminent destination to view, purchase, and engage with Gee's Bend quilts, convening the community's acclaimed quiltmakers and visitors from around the country for quilt displays, sales, and artistic and educational programming. The festival traces the living story of Gee's Bend from the area's Antebellum origins, through its significant role in the Civil Rights Movement, to its present as one of America's most renowned artist communities after decades of underrecognition and disenfranchisement.

Alongside the festival, October 12 marks the opening of Just Look Where He Brought Me From: The Family Quilts of Mary Lee Bendolph, a new exhibition at the River Gallery located in the Gee's Bend Welcome Center. Curated by Souls Grown Deep in collaboration with two of Bendolph's children—Rubin Bendolph, Jr. and quiltmaker Essie Bendolph Pettway—the exhibition brings together quilts, prints, and personal objects to showcase the powerful throughlines of storytelling, cultural expression, and familial connection in Bendolph's work. Visitors can also experience A History of Gee's Bend from 1816 to the Present, a new permanent timeline installation located outside the River Gallery that marks the latest expansion of the Gee's Bend Heritage Trail, a self-guided driving tour highlighting significant quilts, artists, and their roots in sites around the Bend. Established by Souls Grown Deep in 2022, the trail is one of the largest placemaking and cultural tourism initiatives in the region and provides year-round opportunities for visitors to explore and learn about the community's history and impact.

“Gee's Bend is an essential destination in the history and future of American art, with a sphere of cultural influence that has only continued to grow,” said Dr. Maxwell L. Anderson, president of Souls Grown Deep. “There's no better way to engage with this enduring tradition than by paying a visit and supporting the quilters' artistry firsthand, both during the festival and through year-round programs and exhibitions.”

Gee's Bend Airing of the Quilts Festival

October 12, 2024 | 9:00am – 5:00pm

The Gee's Bend community welcomes visitors to the highly anticipated third annual celebration of its generations-old quiltmaking tradition. The event will feature quilt displays and sales throughout the Bend, with the opportunity to meet some of the talented artists behind them, learn the art of quilting firsthand, and explore the creative history and present of Gee's Bend.

This year's festival will include a site-specific installation by Oklahoma-based textile and fiber artist Rachel Hayes, known for her vibrant large-scale textile sculptures that respond to and complement the landscape. Hayes will also collaborate with Gee's Bend artists, including Essie Bendolph Pettway, Mary Margaret Pettway, and Sharon Williams, on a second public art installation. Building on the tradition of outdoor display and homage to shared history, the festival will also showcase a community-created Memorial Tree that uses textile material to name and honor Gee's Bend quilters who have passed on.

Festival programming also includes hands-on adult and youth beginner quilting workshops led by local quiltmakers, a drop-in Kids' Creative Corner where children of all ages can explore artistic activities inspired by different steps of the quilting process, and readings by children's book author Tangular Irby (Pearl and her Gee's Bend Quilt, Charles and his Gee's Bend Quilt) and acclaimed quilter and author Tinnie Pettway (The Gee's Bend Experience).

Visitors can also explore two new exhibitions at the River Gallery, located inside the Gee's Bend Welcome Center, both opening October 12. Just Look Where He Brought Me From: The Family Quilts of Mary Lee Bendolph delves into the life and work of one of the foremost quiltmakers of Gee's Bend and the artist behind the 2024 featured festival quilt. A History of Gee's Bend from 1816 to the Present is a new permanent installation outside the gallery that marks the latest expansion of the Gee's Bend Heritage Trail, a self-guided driving tour celebrating the makers of the 10 iconic Gee's Bend quilts featured on U.S. postage stamps.

Hop-on, hop-off bus tours of Gee's Bend will enable visitors to experience the full breadth of the festival with insights from knowledgeable local guides, including stops at notable locations along the Heritage Trail, various makers' sites, and the historic Boykin Mercantile.

Local food vendors will provide a taste of the region's cooking. The festival will feature live performances by local music groups, including a choir from the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. served as pastor from 1954 to 1960.

The Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy—located in nearby Alberta, AL and accessible during the festival by a free shuttle bus—will offer guided museum tours, where visitors will learn about the rich history of the local quilting collective and its deep connections to the Civil Rights Movement.

The Gee's Bend Airing of the Quilts Festival is supported by organizing sponsors Souls Grown Deep and Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy. To learn more and get tickets ($40 suggested donation), visit airingofthequilts.org.

Just Look Where He Brought Me From: The Family Quilts of Mary Lee Bendolph

The River Gallery, Gee's Bend Welcome Center

October 12, 2024 – Summer 2025

Just Look Where He Brought Me From honors the life and artistry of Mary Lee Bendolph (b. 1935), one of the foremost quiltmakers of Gee's Bend and the artist behind this year's featured festival quilt. Curated by Souls Grown Deep in collaboration with two of Bendolph's children, Rubin Bendolph, Jr. and quiltmaker Essie Bendolph Pettway, the exhibition brings together quilts, prints, and personal objects to showcase the ways in which Bendolph artistically pays homage to her loved ones and immortalizes their stories, struggles, and triumphs in her work. The exhibition underscores the profound significance of quiltmaking in Gee's Bend, where the art form serves as a powerful means of storytelling, cultural expression, and familial connection.

Just Look Where He Brought Me From is part of the Souls Grown Deep Exhibition Series, which provides year-long exhibition programming on the area's history and artistic heritage at the River Gallery in the heart of Gee's Bend. To learn more, visit geesbend.org/river-gallery.

Gee's Bend Heritage Trail Expansion: A History of Gee's Bend from 1816 to the Present

Breezeway outside Gee's Bend Welcome Center

October 12, 2024 – ongoing

The new permanent installation of A History of Gee's Bend from 1816 to the Present, located in the breezeway outside the Gee's Bend Welcome Center, marks the latest addition to the Gee's Bend Heritage Trail. As the first stop on the self-guided driving tour, the timeline history exhibition serves as a broad chronological introduction to key moments in the history of Gee's Bend, spanning from the Antebellum era to the contemporary achievements of the quiltmakers in the art world. It highlights the community's extensive role at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement and contextualizes the unique place held by the Gee's Bend quiltmakers—many of whom are featured throughout the rest of the Heritage Trail—in the history of American art.

The Gee's Bend Heritage Trail is a project of Souls Grown Deep in collaboration with the Gee's Bend community. To learn more, visit geesbend.org/heritage-trail.