Art Quilt Exhibit at the Cloister Gallery

The Cloister Gallery will feature a new show entitled “Black Lives Matter: A Struggle for Justice and Equality” which is an exhibition of small art quilts related to civil rights history and justice reform. The exhibit will run from Sunday February 9th through Monday March 23rd. There will be an opening reception for the show on Sunday February 9th from 11:15am-12:30pm. The Cloister Gallery at St. Andrew’s Church is located at 135 Lafayette St., Marblehead. The Gallery hours are M-Th 9am-2pm, F 9am-12pm, Sa 8:30am-10am, Su 8am-12pm. The Gallery is handicapped accessible. For more information, please call 781-631-4951 or visit standrewsmhd.org/cloistergallery.html.

Viewers will see images of civil rights leaders and heroes like Harriet Tubman, Shirley Chisholm, Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King, and President Obama, interwoven with brightly colored fabrics and embellishments. Pete Seeger and his banjo appear on one quilt, which also includes Norman Rockwell’s iconic image of a small girl walking to school accompanied by two federal marshals. Titled “Together We Learn to Read and Write,” the quilt echoes Seeger’s song imaging children learning together in peace and friendship. It commemorates the Supreme Court ruling that racially segregated education is inherently unequal and violates the Constitution.

Fabric artist Nancy Franklin Earsy will be present at the reception to answer questions about her quilts and share her perspectives on the continuing struggle to realize our American ideals of justice and equality. Ms. Earsy, a retired lawyer, began making art quilts in 2006. Her first one celebrated Peace Day, with purple felt praying hands and tiny Tibetan prayer flags. Since then, she’s created over 100 art quilts, many of them focused on civil rights. She finds that the practice of designing and sewing small quilts fosters mindfulness and restores her spirits.