Transcending Tradition: The Art of Elizabeth Talford Scott and the MICA Quilt Group: Decker Gallery at Maryland Institute College of Art
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Exhibition Development Seminar and its groundbreaking exhibition Eyewinkers, Tumbleturds, and Candlebugs: The Art of Elizabeth Talford Scott.
In Scott’s earlier work, though the quilts were utilitarian, they were magnificent in color, shape and historical significance. It wasn’t until the 1980’s that she began pushing traditional quilting boundaries by incorporating a variety of fabrics and fibers to see her ideas come to completion. These quilts formed from unconventional objects combined with fabric create a sense of awe and wonder for the viewer. Her multi-layered work pushes the idea of what a quilt or any fiber piece can look like and what can be used in its making.
By examining the contemporary, collaborative work of the MICA Quilt Raffle Group we see the same play of materials within their pieces. Some follow traditional quilt patterns that have been used for generations while others incorporate objects in surprising ways.
Many of these quilts were made during the pandemic, when being in community and experiencing wonderment were especially needed. Elizabeth Talford Scott’s statement “Take what you have, make what you want” was especially relevant to this group’s methodology. Creating quilts together led to the investigation of traditional forms.
Ultimately, they started working virtually, making a collective space, and finding power in the shifting landscape.
This exhibition, focuses on the idea of transitioning from quilts as a medium, to what they might become as stand-alone fiber art pieces. Through an array of materials, the pieces challenge long standing traditions thus expanding possibilities in fiber arts.
Location: Decker Gallery
(Fox Building, Floor 1, Glass doors to the right of Cafe Doris)
On View: January 25 - March 10, 2024
Reception: Thursday, January 25, 5:00 - 7:00 pm
BMORE Fabric Swap: March 6, 5:30-8 pm
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:
Major support for "No Stone Unturned" provided by the Bunting Family Foundation and Friends of EDS.
Community Day is supported by Lorraine Whittlesey & Markell Whittlesey.
Printed and digital materials are supported by the William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund.
The Closing Reception is supported by Carol and Jerry Doctrow.
In-kind support is provided by the Estate of Elizabeth Talford Scott at Goya Contemporary Gallery.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BMA HOSTS ELIZABETH TALFORD SCOTT COMMUNITY CELEBRATION ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4
EVENT KICKS OFF NO STONE LEFT UNTURNED: THE ELIZABETH TALFORD SCOTT INITIATIVE, A REUNION OF THE ARTIST’S WORK AT FIVE MUSEUMS AND FOUR UNIVERSITY SITES ACROSS BALTIMORE CITY
BALTIMORE, MD (January 4, 2024)—The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) today announced the Elizabeth Talford Scott Community Celebration and kick-off for the No Stone Left Unturned: The Elizabeth Talford Scott Initiative will be held at the museum on Sunday, February 4 from 2 to 5 p.m. The event is held in conjunction with the BMA’s exhibition Eyewinkers, Tumbleturds, and Candlebugs: The Art of Elizabeth Talford Scott and celebrates the art, life, and legacy of the late artist. Highlights of the afternoon include a live musical rendition of Floating on a Thread, the exhibition’s music commission produced and performed by Bashi Rose and Adam Holofcener, with performers Michele Blu, Akilah Divine, Scott Patterson, and Cheyanne Zadia. Hear from MICA’s Exhibition Development Seminar (EDS) instructor Deyane Moses and former program participant and educator Mygenet T. Harris as they share the impact, process, and history of the EDS program, and meet artists, educators, students, community leaders, and innovators during a reception catered by Xquisite Catering.
The No Stone Left Unturned: The Elizabeth Talford Scott Initiative brings together five museums and four university sites across Baltimore City for a reunion of Talford Scott’s work from February through May 2024. Each venue had students from the participating colleges—Coppin State University, Johns Hopkins University, MICA, and Morgan State University—working on a presentation of the artist’s work for their gallery spaces and organizing a free public program. Under the guidance of 2023-24 EDS Instructor Deyane Moses, the students met with the artist’s estate at Goya Contemporary Gallery to learn about Talford Scott’s legacy and met with staff from each location to determine the curatorial direction of their presentation and draw out connections to each organization’s collection, space, history, and/or audience. A description of each exhibition follows in chronological order:
EYEWINKERS, TUMBLETURDS, AND CANDLEBUGS: THE ART OF ELIZABETH TALFORD SCOTT
November 12, 2023 – April 28, 2024
Baltimore Museum of Art
10 Art Museum Drive | artbma.org
Nearly 20 innovative mixed-media fiber works demonstrate Talford Scott’s belief in artmaking’s ability to offer people an opportunity to break free of social limitations, evolve new ways of communicating, and nurture dreams. Her works bridge the gap of fine art and craft by incorporating unconventional objects such as stones, buttons, and sequins in heavily layered surfaces and organic, unstructured shapes embedded with personal and worldly narratives and symbols. Among the exhibition’s highlights are Plantation (1980), a dazzling quilt that envisions the big dipper as a matriarchal beacon of freedom; and Grandfather’s Cabin/Noah’s Ark (1993–96), an exquisite story quilt that recalls memories of the cabin her grandfather built on Blackstock Plantation in South Carolina. The exhibition is guest-curated by MICA Curator Emeritus George Ciscle and organized by BMA Associate Curator of Contemporary Art Cecilia Wichmann. EDS student curators Aleem Allison and Maddie Hazouri created a Community Celebration Gallery featuring a timeline of Talford Scott’s life and career, a resource table with slides and materials from the 1998 retrospective, books for all ages, and a scrapbook of research.
TRANSCENDING TRADITION: THE ART OF ELIZABETH TALFORD SCOTT AND THE MICA QUILT GROUP
January 25 – March 10, 2024
Decker Gallery at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA)
1301 W. Mount Royal Avenue | mica.edu
Talford Scott’s Covered Wagon (1983) was selected as it speaks to transitions, bridging her earlier asymmetrical scrap quilt work to her later fiber artwork with a new visual vocabulary of images, materials, and techniques. The exhibition also features examples from the MICA Quilt Group made during the pandemic. This long-established group moved from in-person get-togethers to an online gathering where 75 people across the country completed 14 quilts. A quilt by the EDS students will also be exhibited. EDS student curators: Miriam Arenberg, Alice Kil, Charlotte Witty
BLACK WOMAN GENIUS: ELIZABETH TALFORD SCOTT—TAPESTRIES OF GENERATIONS
February 1 – September 30, 2024
Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture (RFLM)
830 East Pratt Street | lewismuseum.org
Talford Scott’s early work, Stamps and Flags (1980), is the centerpiece of this exhibition positioning the artist as the mother figure to the featured Black women fiber artists, embodying the genius of their experiences. Talford Scott’s work is showcased alongside contemporary artists from the Chesapeake area in thematic groupings on ancestry, tradition, fiber narrative, and healing. Featured artists include Kibibi Ajanku, Aliana Grace Bailey, Aliyah Bonnette, Mahari Chabwera, Murjoni Merriweather, Joyce J. Scott, Nastassja Swift, Glenda Richardson, and Katherine Stewart Wilson. These intergenerational connections pay homage to the artist’s enduring legacy in the evolving realm of fiber arts. EDS student curators: Joseph Taylor, Simeng True
REVERBERATIONS: DISRUPTION AND HEALING THROUGH THE HANDS OF ELIZABETH TALFORD SCOTT
February 1 – April 18, 2024
George Peabody Library, Johns Hopkins University Sheridan Libraries
17 E. Mount Vernon Place | library.jhu.edu/gpl
Talford Scott’s Rock Circle 2 (1993) and Grub (1993) are dazzling prayer quilts made to lay on the body for comfort and to ease pain. These artworks suggest art as a path to healing and repair—for individuals and for society. As Johns Hopkins University (JHU) grapples with its history of racism and discriminatory and segregationist practices, Baltimore-based performance artists are invited to engage with Scott’s work and consider how art fosters processes and methods towards repair. Visitors are also encouraged to share their views about how JHU might best contribute to alleviating systemic harms. EDS student curators: Ringo Lisko, Elijah Ramos
KALEIDOSCOPE: CHANGING PERSPECTIVES
February 1 – May 19, 2024
The Peale
225 Holliday Street | thepeale.org
Talford Scott’s Water Lilies (1979) was selected for the beauty held within its subtle details. This quilt is presented in conversation with over 300 works from Baltimore County public school students participating in the Arts Every Day Annual 10×10 exhibition. The Kaleidoscope theme brings together a meaningful narrative about community, hopes and desires, fears, and reality. Just as Talford Scott valued community through her work, The Peale, as “Baltimore’s Community Museum,” serves as a wonderful space to allow these conversations to flourish. EDS student curators: Anahita Arun, Grace Flinchbaugh, Iris Ruvalcaba, Anika Shah
AMERICAN AFRICANISMS: THE MUSINGS OF ELIZABETH TALFORD SCOTT
February 2 – May 9, 2024
JELMA, James E. Lewis Museum of Art at Morgan State University
2201 Argonne Drive | jelmamuseum.org
Two of Talford Scott’s quilts: Africa (1985) and Bits and Pieces (1995) explore the themes of ancestry, family, and migration in conversation with West African textiles, photographs, and paintings from JELMA’s collection. These works relate to both the narrative of Talford Scott’s life and the African American experience. EDS student curator: Olubunmi Bakare
MATERIAL & MEMORIES: ELIZABETH TALFORD SCOTT AND THE CRAZY QUILT TRADITION
February 1 – December 29, 2024
Maryland Center for History & Culture (MCHC)
610 Park Avenue | mdhistory.org
Talford Scott’s Abstract #1 (1983), the first quilt by a Black artist in the MCHC’s collection, is presented with a selection of historic crazy quilts dating from the 1880s. Crazy quilts are characterized by irregular shapes and sizes of fabric sewn together and embellished with embroidery and topstitching. The exhibition also features recent works by the African American Quilters of Baltimore, audio of Talford Scott, and examples of needlework from the student’s families. EDS student curators: Izabela Cookson, Nathan Hrdlicka, Phoebe More
ELIZABETH TALFORD SCOTT: ’98 TIL INFINITY
February 4 – April 27, 2024
Cary Beth Cryor Gallery at Coppin State University
2500 West North Avenue | coppin.edu
Talford Scott’s Untitled (1983) quilt is presented alongside selected artworks by Blanche and Wendy Blackwell and the Gee’s Bend Quilting Collective, reflecting themes of joy, family, science, space, and universal love. These fabric narratives celebrate a rich artistic heritage, blending traditional styles with contemporary influences, and the exhibition serves as a bridge between generations, inviting visitors to witness the enduring legacy of quilting skills from the past to infinity. EDS student curators: Aleem Allison, Tori Carlisle, Deborah Mason
STITCHED MEMORIES: CELEBRATING ELIZABETH TALFORD SCOTT
February 7 – May 12, 2024
The Walters Art Museum
600 North Charles Street | thewalters.org
This exhibition highlights how Talford Scott transformed source materials into tools for storytelling through two works from her “Chinese Pillow” series. The Walters Art Museum collection provides a unique opportunity to place these works in conversation with Chinese textiles similar to those that the artist used to create her pillows. In this multi-sensory exhibition, learn how materials tell stories and keep memories alive. EDS student curators: Kendra Brewer, Sasha Kramer
