Clara Ford Foundation

Carolyn Mazloomi

Renowned quilt artist, historian, curator and author Carolyn Mazloomi will present two lectures in Atlanta as part of the Clara Ford Quilt Lecture Series. The first lecture, which is being presented in collaboration with the Brown Sugar Stitchers Quilt Guild bi-annual quilt show is August 1, 2009. The lecture will be held at the South Fulton Arts Center, 4645 Butner Road, College Park, GA at 2 p.m.

The second lecture will be held at the Hammonds House Museum, Sunday, August 2, 2009 at 2 p.m. Hammonds House is located at 503 Peeples Street in Atlanta.

The lectures are made possible by the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, Hammonds House Museum and the Clara Ford Foundation. A book signing and reception will follow each lecture. Admission is $10.00 for each lecture.

Mazloomi is  among the most influential African American quilt historians in the United States. She has produced an awe inspiring body of work, much of it containing references to African American life and history, as well as harkening back to a shared African ancestry.

Widely exhibited in the United States and internationally, her quilts have been included in five exhibitions at the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery. Her artwork can be found in numerous important museums and corporate collections, such as the Wadsworth Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, American Museum of Design, Bell Telephone, the Cleveland Clinic, and Exxon.

She has appeared on television shows such as CBS Morning Show, Reading Rainbow, The Today Show, CNN, and has been the subject of several film documentaries. Dr. Mazloomi is one of six artist commissioned to create artwork for the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center Museum.

In 1985 she founded the Women of Color Quilters Network, an international organization with a membership of 1700, which has been a major force in fostering the fiberart works of African American people. Through  Mazloomi’s effort WCQN members have had their quilts presented in venues such as prominent museums and galleries, and in internationally traveled exhibitions.

She is a frequent consultant for art exhibitions, authors, and historians. Beijing, China was the setting for an international quilt exhibition curated by Mazloomi as part of the United Nations Conference for Women held in 1995. This exhibition resulted in the publication of the book Star Quilts (Streelekha Press, Bangalore, India) which she co-edited. She is also author of the book Spirits of the Cloth (Random House) given the “Best Non-Fiction Book of the Year” award by the American Library Association. Her book, Threads of Faith, was published in 2004 by the Museum of Biblical Art. An exhibition, based on the book, toured the United States for two years. Her most recent publications, Textural Rhythms: Quilting the Jazz Tradition and Quilting African American Women’s History were published in 2007.

In 2009 Mazloomi will publish The Journey of Hope in America: Quilts Inspired by President Barack Obama. The book will be accompanied by an exhibition which will open in Hokohoma, Japan in November, 2009.

In 2003  Mazloomi was awarded the first Ohio Heritage Fellowship Award. Ohio Heritage Fellows are among the state’s living cultural treasures. Fellows embody the highest level of artistic achievement in their work, and the highest level of service in the teaching and other work they do in their communities to ensure that their artistic traditions stay strong.

Mazloomi has been involved in the economic development of women through the arts for over twenty years. Her organization, WCQN, has been recognized by the International Labour Department in Geneva and the United Nations for its developmental programs to help advance women.