To celebrate women’s history month, the Akoma Ntoso Modern Quilt Guild of Central Indiana will host “Strength, Courage & Dignity: Stories of Everyday Women” 10:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. March 10 at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church.
“Women created quilting,” said Tony Dickerson founder of Akoma Ntoso. “Women didn’t have to ask, ‘Hey, can I take these scraps of material and turn it into something beautiful?’ They took the opportunity to do that, and it was their way to be brave every day on the down low.”
Most of the quilts showcase important women from each quilter’s own lives. Dickerson quilted an image of her mother who died after a long battle with dementia and was also a quilter. The realization that Dickerson’s great nieces and nephews would never receive a quilt from her mother is a major motivation for this exhibit and Dickerson’s work in general.
Dickerson’s niece, 12-year-old Mira Jean Duncan, created a quilt of the grandmother she was never able to meet. Duncan’s favorite color is blue and so was her grandmother’s, so Duncan created a blue face and titled the piece “Our Favorite Color.”
While the personal nature of each quilt means the items will not be for sale after the exhibit, the connection each artist has with the subject honors what Dickerson calls the “real reason” for Women’s History Month.
“To honor the everyday women,” Dickerson said. “The women you know and love. The women who truly made a difference in our lives.”
There are also three quilts representing women who fit the theme of “Strength, Courage & Dignity: Stories of Everyday Women” but aren’t relatives of the quilters. The first portrays entrepreneur and icon Madam CJ Walker. Another features Tarana Burke, founder of the #MeToo movement. The final quilt features a woman Dickerson calls Mrs. Irma, who is not an actual person but a representative of all the women who participated in the Montgomery bus boycott.
Contact staff writer Ben Lashar at 317-762-7848. Follow him on Twitter @BenjaminLashar.
