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Show a:e D2 - THE HEKALD, F'rovo, Utah, 11, 1993 Thursday, February Black quilfers claim role in American folic ar By J.L. - HAZELTON ..... jmummmH t .." , Associated Press Writer Like the negative ST. LOUIS space circling the wedding rings nn: Amerithat dot one role can quilt pattern, the 200-yeof black quilters is emerging as an integral part of the design. Fueled by the focus on ethnic identin that grew from the civil .. ar t H - ! i - R i h ( '! '! has spent 15 years researching black quilters, have created quilts almost as long as whites. ' In fact, the colorful American patchwork quilt traditionally associated with white. Appalachian craftswomen is actually a fusion of black and white techniques. - ? ' I a.- - - f . Writing workshop scheduled 1 A' tjr&f: v -- l'i i X 'W Ben-ber- ry says. Eli Leon, an independent scholar and quill collector in Oakland, Calif., says the study of black quilting sheds light on the history of the craft as a whole. "The tradition has fueled, has inspired the patchwork quilt," he said. However, the black and white traditions are not identical, he said. n In contrast to a emphasis on the precise reproduction of a traditional pattern, the n quilter was more likely to improvise, using scraps to create "decorative patterns that in Africa would have been imbued with symbolic meaning as well as aesthetic value. " Doris Bowman, a needlework expert at the Smithsonian Institution, said the recent focus on blacks, women and other groups often marginalized by historians, led inevitably to studies of the black quiltmaking tradition. African-A- merican European-America- 'I quiltmak- n ing is diversified as everybody else's quiltmaking," she said. For Bow man, the study of black quilters is part of a bigger picture. 'It influences and is influenced by "other studies, like women's work "ami women's history, black women's history, black history." ' Like so many other cultural from music to manifestations food a melding of European and West African traditions led to something totally new and wholly American. Constructed of small blocks of r fabric scraps, the patchwork quilt typifies the American emphasis on ingenuity and convenience. Benberry said. W hen people say this kind of quilt came over on the Mayflower, it's simply not true," she said. "Quilting in America did come from Europe, but the quilt we know as the traditional American patchwork quilt is not wholly Eusewn-togethe- " ropean." Seventeenth-centur- y used a three-la- v often of silk, Europeans ered bed covering, ith a design stitched into it. but it was a luxury item. It was another group of immiw grants, slaves from West Africa, who applied the patchwork and quilting techniques to that bedcover. The West Africans had no need eied bedcovers in for three-latheir warm homeland. But thev. now-famili- rr ar v " ' ,V - I 375-458- AP Photo Quilt historian Cuesta Ray Benberry stands in front of a few examples of quilts made by African-Americaon display at the St. Louis Art Museum in January. Benberry has spent the last 15 years researching black quiltmakers. "Quilting is a fundamental part of the cultural tradition. Quilting evolved from a strong tradition of weaving in Africa and is still a vital part of culture today." Joe Ketner, director, Washington University Gallery of Art African-America- n African-America- n like medieval Asians, quilted their heavy cloth armor, and they wove long narrow strips of cloth and stitched them together to create larger textiles, Benberry say s. The patchwork quilt evolved in America by the mid-- 1 8th century. Benberry, who retired in 1985 after 40 years of teaching in St. Louis public schools, is a historian and lecturer. A member of the Quilter's Hall of Fame, she appears in Who's Who in America and the Smithsonian Institution's Directory of " """" " African-America- n Folklorists. Delving for information on earn ly quilts, Benberry found that, as with other aspects of black life in America, the historical record is thin. Most documents, ships' ladings and plantation records, for the most part, identify blacks as only "John," "'Mary" or even '"Big Mary," Benberry says. e And most quilts exist don't any more; they wore out w ith use. What remains primarily are slave quilts made for a white master or mistress and preserved by the white family, she says. Made and preserved after Emancipation, Benberry is quick to add. African-America- like the stylized ancient Egyptian buds. lotus, and several rose-lik- e The quilt is part of a show at the St. Louis Art Museum. '"Hear My Quilt: 150 Years of African-America- n Quilt Making." Benberry is curator. Another Benberry show is touring the United States. Most quilts replicate a traditional pattern Whig Rose. Wedding Ring, Black Crownes, Crazy and don't vary from while to black quiltmakers. Only oral tradition really can distinguish quilts made by blacks from those made by whites. "That's the one true way that you can know . when it's actually handed down in the family," Benberry said. There are. however, some techniques more common to black quilters. Black quiltmakers, for example, often incorporated a text into their designs. Faith Ringgold, a painter and the author of the award-winnin- g children's book "Tar Beach," has Get a WINNER! 2 Aladdin Merchandise, W Adult Admis- hand-writt- 4:00 m iiJit 374-606- 1 in ihetldNMi Irddiintn litilf a il I'kllllC Mon about utunigt. and THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY STARTS FRIDAY 5:00 7:00 9:00 Matinee Shows Sat, Sun & Mon at 1 :00 3:00 1slZ Price!! At The Best ' 4:45 7:15 9:45 ..S,! 13O0SOU,n FRI. & SAT. NIGHT 12 LB. PRIME RIB DINNER Top Quality Prime Rib! Dinner Includes: Baked Potato, Salad & Boll For Only ALL YOU CAN EAT! raj PRIME RIB STARTS FRIDAY AT 7:10 9:50 Sat & Sun matinee 1:45 4:30 ... 22442 ' W.J BUFFET a IJUJjWIB! "THE FUNNIEST BILL MURRAY MOVIE EVER!" ( CHICKEN A Spanish Fork Only) f ( Spanish Fork Only) KIDS EAT FREE Monday-Frida- y (1 Childi Meal PICTURES! i rint n STEAK & ALL YOU CAN EAT SHRIMP Limited Time Offer cotuMsiA'tn ow pi Only At Spanish Fork Location) FRIED STEAK DINNER Day 'A ( Good TOP SIRLOIN N Murray, Groundhog 175 N 2nd Wesl . ProvO The club's open meeting will be from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the library's auditorium, located at 425 W. Center, Provo. Prior to the meeting, a major science fiction motion picture w ill be shown at 10 a.m. and again at 1 p.m. Free popcorn will be provided. The meeting is free and open to the public. HOMEWARD BOUND Mary Taylor of Yazoo City, Miss., is called "Timmy, Lassie and Deer." Bill STARTS FRIDAY! 5:15 7:30 9:30 Matinee Sat Sun & Mon at: 1:30 3:30 tion is available at the Varsity Theater. C(iim habit. A quilt by one such artist, Sarah Ami Ui - en Meanwhile, more traditional black American artists, including many elderly Southern women, carry on their family's quiltmaking 7:00 & Pulp-hous- e, Club to conduct open meeting sion. Showtimes: Nightly & 9:15 p.m. Sat. Matinees: ence Fiction, Amazing, and in numerous anthologies. His novel "Nicoji" was published by Baen Books in 1991 to wide acclaim. 'r,ll1""wfafc $10 coupon toward? el Books. His first novel, "On My Way to Paradise," hit the science fiction bestseller list and won the Philip K. Dick Memorial Special Award as one of the outstanding science fiction novels of 1989. Bell won first prize in the Writers of the Future Contest in 1986 and soon went on to publish poetry and short stories widely in magazines such as Isaac Asimov's Sci- A workshop, based on the Hubextended that tradition into her own contemporary work. One of bard articles of writing, was deher text works is called "The Din- signed to help launch aspiring ficner Quilt." The pieced, quilted, tion writers into their chosen appliqued work shows a painted profession and was delivered to contest winners only. family seated around a painted ta Due to demand, the opportunity ble set for feasting, with painted bearto participate in the workshop has fooduand Paintefd place mats names Amerblack mg great ican women, including Zora Neale Hurston, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman and Bessie Smith. PROVO The Provo City LiFour corner panels carry a and the USS Alioth Star Trek narrative about family brary will Club join Brigham Young memory and tradition. University's symposium on sciLike Ringgold, young women ence fiction and fantasy wiih a club from the United States, London's open membership meeting SaturBrixton, Canada, the Caribbean day. and Soweto, South Africa, are reThe symposium, titled "Life, defining the quilting tradition as members of the Women of Color the Universe, & Everything XI," Quilters Network, which Benberry is running through Saturday in the helped found. Often, these artists BYU Wilkinson Center. Registra- focus on African designs and techniques. "I don't think there was all that much recognition of slaves' work," she said. But after Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, former slaves who stayed w ith their former owners often became a part of the extended family, and their handiwork was treasured. One quilt preserved by a white family, circa 1830. has a pattern unlike anything Benberry has ever seen. Its squares each contain a large, fringed flower, something three-nov- 3. black-mad- 11:00,1:45, Hl1 shop will be local professional writers Dave Wolverton and M. Shayne Bell. Wolverton launched his career by winning the grand prize in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest in 1986 and quickly afterward signed a contract with Bantam 16-1- ' CJNfPLFIOW" W , v. "' - workshop will be conducted Feb. 9 at the Brigham Young University Wilkinson Center in Provo. The workshop will be presented from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. nightly. Tuition and materials are $38. For more information or to ap5 ply for the workshop, call or The L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest was established in 1983 by L. Ron Hubbard, a highly acclaimed author of the 1930s and 1940s in areas such as science fiction, mystery, adventure and westerns. 378-445- " African-America- "African-America- f been opened to the public. Instructors of the Provo work- Writers of the Future writing African-America- ''H- - An L. Ron Hubbard PROVO J ' swimming through kelp beds in the San Juan Islands in the Pacific Northwest. Nicholson began taking his Nikon on backpacking trips as a teenager through Idaho. In 1980, after claiming bachelor's degree in physics from the University of Washington, he moved to Salt Lake City. When not behind a lens, he works as a software consultant for Digital Equipment seldom-explore- ; ? or occasionally derness photographers, he likes to be alone with his subjects. He can be found toting 40 pounds d of camera gear through canyons in the high deserts of Southern Utah, wan 1 . dering the Wasatch Mountains This is Paul Nicholson's first public exhibit. Like most wil- ?j v- The photograPaul Nicholson exhibit of phy will be featured at the Central Utah Art Center in Ephraim through March 10. The exhibit is open Thursday through Saturday from noon to 6p.m. ' V V V . V culture today." In the United States, quiitmak-er- s once meant white women. But says Cuesta Ray Benberry, who ii J ' J ' , f y African-America- i ' f J - ,h m V,:.y V ,y V 1 ' v i- fc j i.f V J, I lilt P J V . .u.v. I - v . EPHRAIM ;l V tl tt ! x- it H'I f h r h ' : African-America- n 19th-centur- 'Si f rI Unr I rights movement, and encouraged by the new feminist tradition of examining ""women's work" as art. black quiltmakers are beginning to take their proper place in American folk art. "Quilting is a fundamental part of the cultural tradition.' said Joe Ketner, director of the Washington University Gallery of Art in St. Louis and an black art. expert on "'Quilting evolved from a strong tradition of weaving in Africa and n is still a vital part of K--- "I - Y V y ' t "." Photographer's work featured in art exhibit jj STARTS FRIDAY AT 7:20 9:30 Sat & Sun matinee 2:30 4:50 Thj9 II MS r RESTAURANT (Ages 10 and Under) Per Adult Meal) 80 West 1000 North (1st Southbound Spanish Fork Exit MS) Spanish Fork 708-933- 9 |