The Social Justice Collaboration Quilts Project/Selected Works

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“Dear America, We are here. We are diverse. We are love. We are big, bold, and otherwise full of promise.” - K

Marilyn Fox, director of The Freyberger Gallery has curated a beautiful and thought-provoking online quilt-making exhibition. The genesis of this project actually began in 1997 as an ongoing collaboration between artist and private investigator Maureen Kelleher and individuals incarcerated in Louisiana State Penitentiary, along with free civilians. Connecting worlds inside and outside, more than 50 impressive handmade quilts have been amassed, which include evocative musical accompaniment and experiential narratives. The exhibition (able to be viewed virtually) explores themes of social justice, collaboration, the essence of “piece(peace)-work” otherwise known as quilting, and supports many stories woven throughout.

It was in 1997 that inmates serving life sentences at Angola State Prison (Louisiana State Penitentiary), which is located on a former plantation, created a much-needed on-site hospice program. The program was actually organized by the inmates themselves which they raised money for by making and selling quilts.

In 2012, a collaboration began between Maureen Kelleher and Kenya, an inmate whom she had come to know through her work as a social justice activist. In addition to being an artist and a dedicated quilter, Kelleher is a private investigator who advocates for those who have been wrongly convicted. Her investigative work has led to the exoneration and release of two men from Louisiana’s death row, as well as the right to a new trial or overturned convictions for other prisoners.   

Though the Social Justice Collaboration Quilts Project began with the friendship of Kelleher and Kenya, it has since grown to include family and community members as well as other incarcerated individuals, among them Etienne, Kenya, Sharif, Zulu, Mutulu Shakur and Ramsey Orta. 

The goals of the project are to educate, to probe issues of social injustice, and to carry out a legacy of Black intellectual traditions. This particular project supports artists and hospice workers. The selection of quilts builds on a tradition already set in motion with what is known as signature and friendship quilts which gained popularity in the mid-1800s because they could easily be made with colorful fabric scraps.

Quilts have long played a role in expressing community consciousness and have historically been used as tools to reflect issues of social justice such as women's suffrage, child labor and civil rights. This powerfully complex exhibition is another reminder of the impact a collaborative process can evoke and how art can rightfully create change.

On a personal note, what I glean from viewing these gorgeous fabric pieces is a message of freedom. The makers are free from a notion of what art has to be as I am free as a viewer from what any criteria has to be. In a sense, much like the artist and contemporary quilt maker Faith Ringgold, they rewrite their own art history and belong to a script of their own creation.

View the Virtual Exhibition curated by Marilyn Fox from The Freyberger Gallery on the Penn State Berks Campus virtually through Nov. 10 at:

https://artspaces.kunstmatrix.com/en/exhibition/3968496/the-social-justice-collaboration-quilts-project

Exhibition Catalogue:

https://artspaces.kunstmatrix.com/en/exhibition/3968496/catalog

Beth Krumholz is a Berks County native, currently residing in Bethlehem.  She is an educator, artist and poet. She has worked in the field of alternative art education for 20+ years, from NYC to San Francisco. In her spare time, she enjoys Indian cooking, Appalachian waterfalls, table-top herb gardening, and hanging out with her wonderful son and their mischievous cats. Photo: Jenny Schulder-Brant