ORLANDO, FL.- This January, the Orlando Museum of Art presents Gee’s Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt, an exhibition showcasing more than 70 strikingly original quilts created by the women of Gee’s Bend, Alabama. Gee’s Bend, a small, historically all-black community, has a rich tradition of quiltmaking. For generations, the women of Gee’s Bend have learned the craft from their mothers and grandmothers, piecing together scraps of fabric and worn clothing into quilts of bold and dazzling design. Although the women made quilts out of necessity, they transformed the craft into a high form of artistic expression.

Gee’s Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt provides a look at the long tradition of quiltmaking in this small rural community. It features quilt masterpieces from the 1930s and after, and celebrates the recent revitalization of the community’s quiltmaking tradition by spotlighting a number of quilts created in the last four years.

Gee’s Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt has been organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Tinwood Alliance, Atlanta. The Quilts are drawn from the collection of Tinwood Alliance, a non-profit foundation for the support of African-American vernacular art.