From the early twentieth century to the present day, the women of Gee’s Bend – a small, remote, Black community in Alabama, USA – have been creating hand-stitched, geometric quilt works, now internationally recognised as modern masterpieces. Despite this recognition, the artisans have experienced difficulty in monetizing their work and the community has struggled financially.

Now Marfa Stance, through partnership with Nest, a non-profit organization supporting responsible and creative engagement with artisans from across the globe, has collaborated with Gee’s Bend on a unique project: a collection of one-of-a-kind homewares, garments and art created by its artisans, which will generate revenue for the community and provide a blue-print for future income streams.

Thirty-eight artisans have come together to work on the project, with two quilters or more per item. Each piece has taken over one week to make.

In a first for Gee’s Bend, the artisans have used luxury, designer-provided fabrics for their designs – colourful cashmeres, wools and fly-weight nylons, all leftover from Marfa Stance production in Italy – combined with their own found fabric, resulting in striking colour and material juxtapositions. The distinctive Gee’s Bend geometric designs were applied with traditional quilt piecing and sewing techniques, overlaid with Marfa Stance’s signature ‘onion’ topstitch. Each work bears the quilter’s moniker.

Limited Edition framed quilts are available to purchase online or from our Marfa Stance x Quilter's of the Gee's Bend exhibition at C Project, Los Angeles.

October 20th - Private View
October 21st - 27th

C Project
830 North Highland Avenue
LA, CA 90038