As we come to the end of the year, here’s a small selection of exhibitions featuring Souls Grown Deep artists in 2023 (descriptions below). We wish you all peace in the new year! #HNY2024 🎈
A highlight of 2023 was the second annual Airing of the Quilts Festival, held in October in Gee’s Bend, Alabama. We welcomed thousands of visitors from across the United States and abroad. Photography by Stephen Pitkin. #airingofthequilts#geesbend#soulsgrowndeep
Join us and the amazing quilt makers in Gee’s Bend, Alabama on Saturday, October 7 for the Airing of the Quilts Festival! Go to for a schedule of events. You don’t want to miss out! #geesbend#airingofthequiltsfestival#alabama#soulsgrowndeep
SAVE THE DATE! Registration for the Gee’s Bend Airing of the Quilts Festival is now open! Join us in Gee’s Bend on October 7 to celebrate the generations-old quilt making tradition featuring quilt displays, exhibitions, workshops, community tours, food, music, and more. The festival is free to attend, but registration for the event is strongly encouraged. Go to geesbend.org to register. #geesbend#geesbendquiltmakers
COMING SOON to the UK! “Souls Grown Deep Like the Rivers: Black Artists from the American South” at the Royal Academy of Art, London. Curated by SGD curator, Raina Lampkins-Fielder, the first international exhibition focused on the SGD collection features over 60 works by 34 artists including Lonnie Holley, Thornton Dial, Mary T. Smith, Joe Minter, and quilt makers from Gee’s Bend and Alberta, Alabama. Detail of Lonnie Holley’s “Keeping a Record of It (Harmful Music)”, 1986. #RASoulsGrownDeep#RoyalAcademy#blackartists#contemporaryart#modernart#americanart
Souls Grown Deep is pleased to announce the launch of our custom prints and framing shop, featuring the work of Gee’s Bend quilt makers, Thornton Dial, Mose Tolliver, Purvis Young and other celebrated Black artists from the American South featured in the SGD collection. Through a pioneering revenue-sharing model, SGD has made artists or their estates equal partners in profits from the sale of all prints and frames. Purchases are a great way to directly support Black artists from the South and the mission of SGD to promote their work and support their communities. Go to and add a little joy to your— or someone else’s— day. Happy Black History Month! #geesbend#thorntondial#quilts#prints#nelliemaerowe#soulsgrowndeep#purvisyoung#fineartprints#blackart
Join the amazing quilt makers in Gee’s Bend on Saturday, October 8, for a day to celebrate the unique artistry of Gee’s Bend. Participate in quilt making workshops, visit an exhibition at the historic Freedom Quilting Bee building, and check out the inauguration of the Gee’s Bend Heritage Trail! All events are free. Just register at . See you there!
In February 1965, Martin Luther King Jr came to Gee’s Bend to preach at the Pleasant Grove Baptist Church where he encouraged folks from Gee’s Bend to register to vote and participate in the march from Selma to Montgomery. Quilt maker Mary Lee Bendolph recalls the visit: “And what I dreamed come to pass— Martin Luther King came to that big old church here in Gee’s Bend, up on the hill. He stood up and talked. I didn’t miss nothing. […] I was in the group [going to march on Camden, Alabama] with Martin Luther King when he went up to drink the “white” water. He wanted us to know that the water wasn’t no different and to let the white people know that we could all drink the same water.” Détail image of Joe Minter’s “A Monument: The Birmingham Jail” (2000) from African Village in America. #MLK2022#geesbend#soulsgrowndeep#martinlutherkingjr#joeminter
For those countless women who have nurtured and comforted us, Happy Mother’s Day! We can feel the hands of those mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, and daughters in every quilt from Gee’s Bend. This “Housetop”-Single-Block “Log Cabin” variation was created by Mary Elizabeth Kennedy, circa 1965. You can visit this work and other work by SGD artist at the Toledo Museum of Art. #happymothersday#geesbendquilts#alabama#soulsgrowndeepfoundation
Souls Grown Deep on Google Arts & Culture has just launched! Learn about 100 Years of Gee’s Bend Quilts, explore the work of Thornton Dial, and other artists from our collection. Link below. @googleartsculture#soulsgrowndeep
![In February 1965, Martin Luther King Jr came to Gee’s Bend to preach at the Pleasant Grove Baptist Church where he encouraged folks from Gee’s Bend to register to vote and participate in the march from Selma to Montgomery. Quilt maker Mary Lee Bendolph recalls the visit: “And what I dreamed come to pass— Martin Luther King came to that big old church here in Gee’s Bend, up on the hill. He stood up and talked. I didn’t miss nothing. […] I was in the group [going to march on Camden, Alabama] with Martin Luther King when he went up to drink the “white” water. He wanted us to know that the water wasn’t no different and to let the white people know that we could all drink the same water.” Détail image of Joe Minter’s “A Monument: The Birmingham Jail” (2000) from African Village in America. #MLK2022 #geesbend #soulsgrowndeep #martinlutherkingjr #joeminter](https://sp1.pixwox.com/p/pt_6827714668101857366514_0_e2b622fe5376befa2e947a0f5b16ea11.jpg?v/t51.29350-15/271958723_905183940192519_363763256638440619_n.jpg?stp=c13.0.1001.1001a_dst-jpg_e35_s640x640_sh0.08&_nc_ht=scontent-xsp1-2.cdninstagram.com&_nc_cat=103&_nc_ohc=hN3c4HXu5QcQ7kNvgGQ1hwK&edm=AOQ1c0wBAAAA&ccb=7-5&ig_cache_key=Mjc1MzI5MTY1MzA1MDcxMTYyNw%3D%3D.2.c-ccb7-5&oh=00_AYCHkPBkgydIunPJzokRIGPQXnkrL28FhJX5pmjFvmOY6A&oe=6688FE1C&_nc_sid=8b3546)
