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The third annual Airing of the Quilts celebrates the tradition of outdoor quilt displays in the historic community of Gee’s Bend and gives visitors an opportunity to immerse themselves in a unique artistic community that produced internationally acclaimed African American quiltmakers.
“This is an artistically advanced community,” said Kim V. Kelly, executive director for Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy, one of the organizations coordinating the festival. “That legacy can be traced to the people who live in the community, whose families have lived here for over 200 years from enslavement to the present. This is an historically and culturally significant community. People will learn, experience and enjoy so much while they are here.”
The festival, set for Saturday, Oct. 12, features a number of new attractions, beginning with a new exhibition titled “Just Look Where He Brought Me From: The Family Quilts of Mary Lee Bendolph” at the River Gallery, located at the Gee’s Bend Welcome Center. Bendolph is renowned as one of Gee’s Bend’s most accomplished quiltmakers and created the 2024 featured festival quilt.
Bendolph traces her ancestry to the first enslaved people brought to Gee’s Bend in 1816 and recalls her grandmother’s family stories about the walk from North Carolina to Alabama with Joseph Gee, the planter who brought 17 slaves to his 6,000-acre plantation a few years before Alabama gained statehood in what is now Wilcox County.
Another exhibition, titled “A History of Gee’s Bend from 1816 to the Present,” is located at the River Gallery and is a permanent addition to the Gee’s Bend Heritage Trail.
The festival will also feature a site-specific installation by Oklahoma-based textile artist Rachel Hayes, who will make her first trip to Gee’s Bend. She will collaborate with Gee’s Bend artists Essie Bendolph Pettway, Mary Margaret Pettway, Sharon Williams and other quilters on a public art installation.
Kelly also noted a new transportation option is available to festival goers this year. A park-and-ride service will be offered. Attendees can park their cars at Ellis Landing on the Camden side of the river, catch a shuttle to the ferry and walk on the Gee’s Bend Ferry as a pedestrian. There will be transportation options provided in Gee’s Bend that will expand your festival experience to the homes of some quilters and other historically important areas of the community.
Since Gee’s Bend is an historically isolated community, with only one road in and one road out, the ferry across the Alabama River provides a shortcut for many visitors. Kelly emphasized the ability to park near the ferry, board a free shuttle to the ferry and ride as pedestrians for $1 (cash only) will cut the travel time for many people.
Once visitors arrive in Gee’s Bend, a “hop-on, hop-off” bus service will be also available for the first time. Tickets can be purchased online for the festival, bus service and quilting workshops.
The Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy, located in nearby Alberta and accessible by shuttle bus, will offer guided museum tours to educate visitors about the local quilting cooperative’s history and its influence on the Civil Rights Movement.
The festival, which runs from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., also features live entertainment and music, including a performance by the choir from Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. served as pastor from 1954-60. Other attractions include beginner quilting workshops, a Kids’ Creative Corner with activities for children, and readings by authors Tangular Irby and Tinnie Pettway. Visit airingofthequilts.org to register, learn of all the offerings and select ticketed features for the day!
Local food vendors will also provide a sampling of the region’s unique cuisine. “Come hungry, because you’re going to have good food to eat,” Kelly said.
The Alabama Black Belt Adventures Association (ALBBAA) is also organizing a tour to the Airing of the Quilts for the women who serve Alabama in the legislature. The purpose is to provide them a first-hand experience and highlight the importance of cultural tourism and how it positively impacts the lives of those who live in Alabama’s most rural area.
“The Gee’s Bend Airing of the Quilts provides amazing opportunities to learn about the community’s cultural and artistic history, and it’s an honor for our organization to help expose Legislators to this amazing place in the heart of Alabama’s Black Belt,” said ALBBAA director Pam Swanner.
Added Doris Mosely, a Gee’s Bend quilter: “Meeting people from around the world and sharing my quilts in person makes the Airing of the Quilts Festival truly special. It’s more than just selling quilts. It’s about connecting with visitors and sharing the story of Gee’s Bend.”
The festival drew about 700 visitors in its first year in 2022 and last year’s festival attendance doubled to 1,400, including festival goers from 26 states and six countries. Kelly said organizers expect attendance to double again this year. “We’ve expanded the festival footprint that includes the entire community through the new transportation options,” Kelly said.
