Jubilee Quilt Circle
The Jubilee Quilt Circle is excited to open their exhibition at the Glassell School of Art Saturday, August 9th.
Members of the Jubilee Quilt Circle, a long-standing program of the Community Artists’ Collective, participated in a year-long residency at the Glassell School of Art. Meeting weekly, the quilters researched many designs in the textiles displayed in the Museum and immersed themselves in classes offered by Glassell to expand their artistic language.
Patterns of Liberation: The Quilt Code of the Underground Railroad is the culminating display of the Circle’s residency and reflects each quilter’s unique interpretation of the patterns sewn into quilts once used as codes during the time of slavery in America. The patterns in each quilt pay homage to the intricate network of people who comprised the Underground Railroad and who deployed these designs as a means of communication, guiding individuals on specific pathways to freedom. Particular sequences, colors, symbols, and thread lengths revealed vital information to aid navigation from one checkpoint to the next, which ultimately led freedom seekers to Canada. Designing quilts in this fashion is an example of the use of ancestral knowledge passed down by generations of quilters, and it highlights a significant thread in the multilayered fabric of American history.
On View August 9 - September 21
Opening Reception and Artist Talk: Friday, September 19 1:00 PM MFAH Event Link
Circle in Residence
The Jubilee Quilt Circle, one of Community Artists’ Collective’s signature programs, has embarked on a partnership with the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Glassell School of Art, to bring the JQC quilters into residence.
Participants meet weekly on Thursdays at Glassell to share ideas and create new works within the foundation of quilting and will also collaborate with other artists on new projects across diverse disciplines.
Michelle Barnes, Executive Director of The Collective, commented on the new program, “We are immensely grateful to MFAH and Glassell for offering this opportunity to our quilters to become artists in residence. We look forward to sharing the art of quilting with a broader audience and to displaying the interconnections of quilting and sewing with other artists during our time in residence.”
Leslie Abrams, lead quilter, and April M. Frazier, assistant director of The Collective, are facilitating the program at Glassell. The JQC Quilters in Residence program runs through August 2025 with a culminating exhibition of participants' work planned for next fall.
2nd Thursday Workshops
The Circle hosts 2nd Thursday Workshops every month to share their skills and expertise with the Houston Community.
