Exhibitions Puts Colorful Quilts on Display

An exhibition of “Gee’s Bend Quilters: Selections from Paulson Press,” on display in Westmont’s Reynolds Gallery Nov. 12 through Dec. 18, celebrates the work of four African American women from rural Gee’s Bend, Alabama. An opening reception Thursday, Nov. 12, 4-6 p.m. in the gallery is free and open to the public.

The quilters, Mary Lee Bendolph, Louisiana Bendolph, Loretta Pettway and Lorretta Bennett, worked side by side with printmakers at Paulson Press in Berkeley to create softground etchings from their original quilt designs. Descended from slaves on the Pettway plantation, residents of Gee’s Bend developed a tradition of colorful handmade quilts that have been exhibited to critical acclaim in museums across the nation, including the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the Corcoran in Washington, D.C., the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Whitney in New York and the High Museum in Atlanta. The 17 prints on display show the rich colors, textures and graphic abstract designs that are the hallmark of Gee’s Bend quilts’ uniquely American aesthetic.

This exhibition opens concurrently with the Dan Patterson Sculpture Garden, the latest in Reynolds’ annual series highlighting local sculptors, which will be on display through May 8, 2010. Patterson’s large abstract creations explore the twists and turns of Tourette’s syndrome, an inherited neuropsychiatric disorder. Eight sculptures will be placed throughout Westmont’s campus, including an interactive light installation. The artist will be present at the Nov. 12 reception.

Reynolds Gallery is located just inside the lower entrance to Westmont’s campus, 955 La Paz Road in Montecito. The gallery is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and closed Sundays and college holidays. For directions or information, contact (805) 565-6162 or visit www.reynoldsgallery.org.