The James Museum of Western Art has become our favorite museum in the Tampa Bay Area, and there are quite a few great museums in the area. We are proud to be members, and we have no hesitation about telling visitors to the area that a visit to the James is a must. Currently, the James is hosting a fabulous new exhibit until January 8, 2023 before it moves on to another location. ( I think I overheard the Chicago Art Institute being the next stop, but I am not positive.) Webpage: https://thejamesmuseum.org/blackpioneers/
"Black Pioneers: Legacy in the American West" combines history and art. The premise is unique, and the exhibit was organized by the James Museum in conjunction with Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi, curator, historian and artist. The 50 art quilts in the exhibition were created by the Women of Color Quilters Network especially for this exhibition. Founded by Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi in 1985, Women of Color Quilters Network (WCQN) is a non-profit national organization whose mission is to educate, preserve, exhibit, promote and document quilts made by African Americans. Each artist chose a particular person or event significant in black history - of course, making it American history as well - of the American West.
The quilts are beautifully done, and they display a wide variety of skills and techniques used by quilters, like appliques, mixed materials, stitching styles, and 3D effects, and each one tells an important story that one is not likely to have been told. I was familiar with several featured people like Bass Reeves, the black lawman who served as the inspiration for The Lone Ranger, Madam C.J. Walker, one of the first hugely successful black entrepreneurs, Stagecoach Mary, one of the most famous teamsters in the West, and cowboys Nat Love and Bill Picket, to name a few, but I learned about so many more people that I want to go and research now.
The quilts also capture events like the Watts Riots of the 1960s and 1990s and the Greenwood (Tulsa) Massacre of 1921.
Greenwood (Tulsa) Massacre
It's one of the best exhibits we've seen. If you have an opportunity to see it, in St, Petersburg, or another city on its itinerary, I urge you to go see it.
