Mary Lee Bendolph, born in 1935 in Boykin, Alabama, is an American quilt maker and a leading figure of the Gees Bend quilting collective. Raised in the quilting tradition and first taught by her mother at age twelve, she repurposes fabric from worn clothing, which she values for the love and spirit carried in old textiles, into distinctive geometric quilts. Her quilts are associated with the Freedom Quilting Bee of the civil rights era and have been exhibited at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Minneapolis Institute of Art. She received the 2015 National Heritage Fellowship, the United States' highest honor for folk and traditional arts.
Facts
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Mary Lee Bendolph
Gender referenceQuote, Gender reference
Her work has been influential on subsequent quilters and artists and her quilts have been exhibited in museums and galleries around the country.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.