Chronology

  • 1916 – Elizabeth Caldwell is born in Chester, South Carolina, on Blackstock Plantation, where her grandparents had been enslaved and...

    1916

    – Elizabeth Caldwell is born in Chester, South Carolina, on Blackstock Plantation, where her grandparents had been enslaved and her parents, Samuel and Mary Jane Caldwell, later worked as sharecroppers.  She is one of 14 siblings, only 12 survived.

     

    1923-1925 (approx.)

    – The artist’s family has few resources and make most of what they need from repurposed materials.  Elizabeth begins learning many of the traditional crafting skills, including quilting, handed down from generations of her relatives and others who were part of plantation life.  These skills were vital resources for sustainability and worked toward future financial survival. They not only afforded an opportunity to produce needed objects, but they also provided a source of happiness for the burgeoning creative.  

     

    1930

    – The artist begins work, in earnest, on the object titled Fifty Year Quilt.  She continues to work on this object throughout the next 50 years, including during her move to Maryland.  The work is eventually completed in 1980.

     

    1940 (approx.)

    – As part of the Great Migration of Black Americans from the South, the artist moves to Baltimore.

     

    1940-1942 (approx.)

    – Talford Scott acquires jobs as a housekeeper, a cook, and a childcare provider.  During this busy time, she stops quilting.  She meets Charlie Scott Jr. and after coutship, they become a couple.  Elizabeth takes on Charlie's last name as her own.

     

    1948

    – Talford Scott and Charlie Scott welcome their daughter, Joyce Jane Scott, into the world.  Joyce J. Scott will later develop a complex, multi-faceted artistic practice across varied media, achieving a level of distinction and artistic celebrity unknown by most.  

     

    1970s

    – Upon retiring from a multitude of time-consuming jobs, Talford Scott returns to quilting after decades. She begins to display her work at festivals and exhibitions throughout Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia.  The artist frequently engages in demonstrations to teach others the art of quilt-making.

     

    1974

    -   Elizabeth and her daughter purchase a home several blocks from their previous neighborhood.  The two working artists set up home studios and spend much of their time making objects.

     

    1976

    – Daughter Joyce travels to Panama where she meets indigenous Kuna women who help her improve her skills at crafting molas, a reverse appliqué technique which values vibrant fabric color. Bringing this experience back to Baltimore, Scott shares her knowledge with Elizabeth.

     

    1977 

    – Talford Scott and her daughter, Joyce J. Scott, demonstrate quilting techniques at the Smithsonian Institution’s Festival of American Folklife.

     

    1979

    – A sequence of exhibitions inside and outside Maryland feature Talford Scott’s work, garnering the artist national recognition.  She participates in Impact ’79: Afro-American Women Artists at Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL, and is invited to be a presenter at First African American Crafts Conference and Jubilee, Shelby State College, Memphis, TN.

     

    1980-1985

    – The artist holds residencies at the Baltimore Bureau of Recreation and the Maryland State Arts Council.

     

    1982

    – The exhibition Myth and Ritual: A Survey of African American Art, curated by Dr. Leslie King Hammond at The Studio Museum in Harlem, features several of the artist’s works. While in New York, the artist conducts workshops at the Metropolitan Museum of Art during the tenure of curator Dr. Lowery Stokes Sims.  Mother and Daughter Scott continue to cohabitate in one home, often sharing materials.

     

    1984

    – Talford Scott is part of the exhibition Exceptions at Pratt Manhattan Center Gallery, New York, NY.

    Three Generations of Afro-American Quiltmakers: The Scott-Caldwell Family of Baltimore exhibition opens at Fondo del Sol Visual Arts Center in Washington, DC.

     

    1985

    – Black Expressions opens at Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, VA, and The Intuitive Eye, curated by Dr. Leslie King Hammond, opens at Maryland Art Place in Baltimore, MD.  Both exhibitions include the work of Elizabeth Talford Scott.   

     

    1987

    – The Women’s Caucus for Art recognizes Talford Scott for Outstanding Achievement in the Visual Arts at the eighth annual ceremony in Boston, MA.

      

    1989

    – Family Traditions: Recent Work by Elizabeth T. and Joyce J. Scott, opens at Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA.

     

    1990

    – The Definitive Contemporary American Quilt opens at Steinbaum Krauss Gallery, NY, and the Baltimore Museum of Art, MD.   This same year, Maryland Public Television broadcasts the short documentary, The Silver Needle: The Legacy of Elizabeth and Joyce Scott, directed by Rebecca Crumlish.

  • 1992 – Walk a Mile in My Shoes: Work by Elizabeth T. and Joyce J. Scott opens at the Afro-American...
    Elizabeth T. Scott and Joyce J. Scott | Baltimore County, MD, June 1982 (35mm ct)
    ©1996 Roland L. Freeman

    1992

    – Walk a Mile in My Shoes: Work by Elizabeth T. and Joyce J. Scott opens at the Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum, Philadelphia, PA.   Masters, Mentors, and Makers opens at Artscape, Baltimore, MD, and  Dolls by Afro-American Artists opens at Diggs Gallery, Winston-Salem State University, NC.

     

    1993

    – The artist is included in the exhibition Signs and Symbols: African Images in African American Quilts at the Museum of American Folk Art, New York, NY.  This same year, Scott’s work appears in USA Today in Fiber Art at the Nederlands Textielmuseum in Tilburg, Netherlands.  This marks the first time Talford Scott achieves international recognition.

     

    1994

    - Continuing Innovations: Contemporary American Quilt Art opens at Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN.

     

    1995

    – The artist is included in Relatively Speaking: Mothers and Daughters in Art opens at Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Staten Island, NY; Our Story at Camille Love Gallery, Atlanta, GA; and Elizabeth T. Scott and Joyce J. Scott at Parish Gallery, Washington, DC.

     

    1996

    – Scott's 1984 quilt, Hourglass, appears in Roland Freeman’s book A Communion of the Spirits: African American Quilters, Preservers and Their Stories. Documenting black quilting practices throughout America, Freeman’s book becomes a major resource for examining American quilts as objects of heritage, storytelling, and art.

     

    1997

    - Crossing the Threshold at Steinbaum Krauss Gallery, New York, NY; and You Are Here at Artscape, Baltimore, MD, both display E. T. Scott’s work.         

     

    1998

    – Eyewinkers, Tumbleturds, and Candlebugs: The Art of Elizabeth Talford Scott debuts at the Maryland Institute College of Art (now known as MICA) in conjunction with MICA’s first Exhibition Development Seminar, developed by curator George Ciscle.  

     

    1999 

    – The artist shows signs of dementia which will continue to develop until her death.

     

    2000

    - Delaware Museum of Art becomes the first museum to acquire the artist's work for its permanent collection. They acquisition Grandfather's Cabin/Noah's Ark, 1993-1996,  which will eventually be borrowed back for a 2023 reboot of Eyewinkers, Tumbleturds, and Candlebugs: The Art of Elizabeth Talford Scott, at the Baltimore Museum of Art.

     

    2003-2004

    - Magic Markers, Objects of Transformation, at the Des Moines Art Center, IA, opens and includes ETS's work.   As the artist's dementia progresses, her exhibition career goes silent.

     

    2011

    - Elizabeth Talford Scott dies on April 25 in her Baltimore home.  She is 95 years old.  Her daughter, Joyce J. Scott, cares for her until her death.  The Baltimore Museum of Art acquires Plantation, 1980 and Hourglass, 1984 this year.

  • 2015-2016 - Grounds For Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ, works with Goya Contemporary Gallery to produce a major exhibition around the work...
    Photo: Courtesy Joyce J. Scott

    2015-2016

    - Grounds For Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ, works with Goya Contemporary Gallery to produce a major exhibition around the work of Joyce J. Scott.  The team, including GFS Director Gary Garrido Schneider, Goya Contemporary Director Amy Eva Raehse, and Guest Curators Lowery Stokes Sims and Patterson Sims (unrelated), include Elizabeth Talford Scott's work in the exhibition design.  Patterson Sims works on the historic segment of the exhibition, while Lowery Stokes Sims develops the Harriet Tubman-themed section.  Both parts of the exhibition display Talford Scott's quilts.  Joyce J. Scott creates a massive, beaded tapestry for the exhibition - the first of its kind at such a large scale-- which nods to her mother's quilts.  Raehse begins discussions with Joyce concerning the representation of Elizabeth's estate, with hope of reviving the now quiet career.  

     

    2016

    - Joyce J. Scott is announced as a MacArthur Fellow for "repositioning beadwork into a potent platform for commentary on social and political injustices." 

     

    2017 

    - Joyce J. Scott opens her historic exhibition at Grounds For Sculpture.  This exhibition includes the work of Elizabeth Talford Scott and is met with glowing reviews from The New York Times, Baltimore Sun, Philadelphia Inquirer, NadNow, Baltimore Magazine, Craft in America, Hyperallergic, Culture Type, Sculpture Magazine, The Nation, among many other media entities who covered the exhibition.

     

    2018

    - Elizabeth's work is represented in Art Miami during Miami Art week.  This is the first time the artist’s work is shown at a major international art fair and draws the attention of many museum curators who have never before seen  her work.

     

    2019 

    - Goya Contemporary begins the process of acquiring management of the Estate of Elizabeth Talford Scott.   Archiving,  cataloging , and intake of objects begin.  REALITY, Times Two: Joyce J. Scott & Elizabeth Talford Scott opens at Goya Contemporary Gallery, Baltimore, MD.  This exhibition is later followed by the exhibition Hitching Their Dreams to Untamed Stars: Joyce J. Scott and Elizabeth Talford Scott at the Baltimore Museum of Art.

     

    2020 

    - Goya Contemporary Gallery begins representation of the estate of Elizabeth Talford Scott and applies for a solo booth at the prestigious Armory Show in New York, NY.  This same year,  a Global Pandemic shuts down all institutions, producing a level of shared uncertainty felt across the globe. The exhibition Elizabeth Talford Scott: Upside Downwards at Goya Contemporary Gallery opens.  Like most programming in 2020, the exhibition becomes a digital experience.  Tie Quilt # 2 enters the Collection of Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, OK. The Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC exhibits ETS quilts. 

     

    2021 

    - Goya Contemporary Gallery exhibits Elizabeth Talford Scott’s work in a solo, physical booth at The Armory Show, NY.  The New York Times calls the presentation one of the 10 “NOT TO MISS” galleries in an article dated September 9th.  The Armory is a grand success introducing Scott's work to an international art audience and to curators from museums worldwide.  Among many other placements, philanthropist Komal Shah acquires Save The Babies, 1992, for the Shah & Garg Collection, Atherton, CA.   Later this year, Shah visits Baltimore to view the modified Harriet’s Quilt by Joyce J. Scott, which is also acquired for her collection.  My Dreams, 1987-98 and Tie Quilt 1995 enter significant private collections.  Shari Behnke acquires and gifts Untitled, circa 1990 to The Seattle Art Museum, WA.  Toledo Museum of Art, OH, acquires Flower Garden #1, 1989. 

     

    2022

    - Flower Garden, 1989 enters the Collection of Museum of Fine Arts Boston, MA

     

    2023

    – Early in this year, Goya Contemporary opens the exhibition Both Sides Now: The Spirituality, Resilience & Spirituality of Elizabeth Talford Scott.  The exhibition brings in over 10,000 viewers and receives national press in Art Forum, Hyperallergic, Artsy, Artnet, Afro News, and Baltimore Fishbowl.  The Family of the Whosits, 1995 , enters the Collection of RISD Museum of Art, Providence, RI.  This is the first time in the institution’s history that an object is not conveyed on site for review before acquisition.  Sick Eye, 1980, enters the Collection of The Denver Art Museum, CO.    This same year, the Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, OK opens Trade & Transformation, which includes the work of ETS.  Abstract #1, 1983 enters the Collection of Maryland Center for History and Culture, Baltimore.  The acquisition marks the first quilt made by an African American Female Artist ever acquired by the institution.   At the end of the year, the Baltimore Museum of Art opens Eyewinkers, Tumbleturds, and Candlebugs: The Art of Elizabeth Talford Scott, a reboot of the original 1998 exhibition.  The exhibition once again engages with MICA’s EDS program, this time under the direction of instructor Deyane Moses.   Linked to a multi-institution collaborative project involving Cryor Art Gallery at Coppin State University, George Peabody Library of Sheridan Libraries at Johns Hopkins University, Maryland Center for History and Culture (MCHC), Decker Gallery at MICA, James E. Lewis Museum of Art (JELMA) at Morgan State University, The Peale, Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture (MCHC), Decker Gallery at MICA, James E. Lewis Museum of Art (JELMA) at Morgan State University, The Peale, Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture, and the Walters Art Museum. No Stone Left Unturned: The Elizabeth Talford Scott Initiative will open myriad public programs across the city in collaboration with The Baltimore Museum of Art, George Ciscle, and The Estate of Elizabeth Talford Scott at Goya Contemporary.  

     

    2023-2024

    - ETS is the subject of two books, Color Dreams, a coloring book for children of all ages, and The Spirituality, Resilience, and Innovation of Elizabeth Talford Scott.

     

    *This Timeline is ©2023 Raehse/ TALP and Goya Contemporary.  It is excerpt from the book: The Spiritality, Resilance, and Innvocation of Elizabeth Talford Scott.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.