These Fragile Quilts by Black Craftspeople Need to Be Preserved — but the Federal Government Has Pulled the Funds

These fragile quilts by Black craftspeople need to be preserved — but the federal government has pulled the funds

The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive is about to launch an exhibition of historic quilts from a collection that's billed as "one of its kind". But it just lost $260k of federal funding -- the majority of which was earmarked to preserve the delicate artifacts some of which date back to the 1860s. The museum says if the money can't be recouped somehow, it will not be possible to look after the quilts past December.

'Rooted West' at BAMPFA reframes the story of Black quilt making in America

The ambitious exhibition, which the community can see for free Sunday, is both a display of profound artistic expression and an act of defiance after federal funds to preserve and show the quilts were slashed.

These fragile quilts by Black craftspeople need to be preserved — but the federal government has pulled the funds - TPR: The Public's Radio

The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive was about to launch an exhibition of historic quilts, when federal funding earmarked to conserve them had been canceled. The post These fragile quilts by Black craftspeople need to be preserved — but the federal government has pulled the funds appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio.

Berkeley Art Museum spotlights, shares legacies of African American women quilters  - Local News Matters

More than 100 beautiful, fascinating quilts of widely varied styles made primarily by African American women with Bay Area ties, and many of the stories behind them, comprise a compelling new exhibition at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.  “Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California,” opening on June 8 with a free admission day and running through Nov. 30, celebrates Black women and their descendants—ar…