The Skin Quilt Project

Order your community screening package online!

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:02:00 -0500

Interested in programming for your group or organization? Hosting a community screening of The Skin Quilt Project is a great opportunity to bring important information to your friends, family, and group members. If you our looking to raise much needed funds for your organization, the community screening format can be a creative way to raise money for your programming while bringing your community together.

The following community screening models are intended for free admission, for those interested in hosting a paid admission screening, contact info@skinquiltproject.com

First, if your interested in basic community screening w/o fundraising options all you need is:

A. The Skin Quilt Project Community Screener DVD- $59

The community screener is licensed for Community/Group viewing and is available for unlimited screenings by the hosting organization/group. These screeners are not to be used for fundraising purposes, but are to generate community dialogue regarding the issues in the film as well as the objectives of the hosting organization. For schools, colleges, and educational institutions please contact info@skinquiltproject.com for screeners with educational priviledges.

Click here to order.

For individuals, organizations, or groups that are interested in using the community screening as a fundraising tool, there are three options to choose from:

B: Individual package: Host a screening in your home or intimate group setting-$99

For people wishing to hold a screening with 25 people are less.

- Includes 1-community screening-licensed DVD, 10-regular DVDs, 100 postcards.

- You can sell the 10 extra dvds for $20 each.

- We will post your event on our website.

- Receive a free copy of the film upon its exclusive release on DVD.

- You may hold up to 3 screenings.

Click here to order.

C. Small Organization package: Host a screening for your small group-$199

- For people wishing to hold a screening with 75 people or less.

- Includes 1-community screening-licensed DVD, 20-regular DVDs, 100 postcards.

- You can sell the 20 extra dvds for $20 each.

- We will post your event on our website.

- Receive a free copy of the film upon its exclusive release on DVD.

- You may hold up to 3 screenings.

Click here to order.

D. Large Organization package: Host a screening at your church or larger organization- $289

- For people wishing to hold a screening with an audience of 75-150.

- Includes 1-community screening-licensed DVD, 30-regular DVDs, 100 postcards.

- You can sell the 30 extra dvds for $20 each.

- We will post your event on our website.(Optional).

- Receive a free copy of the film when it is released on DVD.

- You may hold up to 3 screenings.

Click here to order.

* For groups larger than 150; to charge paid admission; for schools, libraries, and institutions; and if you are a Non-Profit Organization, please contact info@skinquiltproject.com for details.

* If you would like to purchase additional DVDs to sell at your event please contact info@skinquiltproject.com for details.

Upcoming screenings for 2010-2011: Save the Date!

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 14:26:00 -0500

Hello Everyone,

Save the Date for the upcoming screening events of The Skin Quilt Project for 2010-2011. Additional dates, times, and locations TBA. Also, if you’re interested in hosting a screening of The Skin Quilt Project please contact us at: info@skinquiltproject.com

March 2010

13- Nubian Heritage Quilt Guild, East Orange, NJ
20- New England Quilt Museum at 1:30 p.m., Lowell, MA

April 2010

TBA Stonehill College, Easton, MA
Gallery Kayafas, Boston, MA

May 2010
15- Avery Research Center for African-American History and Culture, Charleston, SC

June 2010
TBA

July 2010

August 2010
TBA

September 2010
TBA

October 2010
TBA- SQP Quilt Exhibition w/Screening at the Towne Art Gallery at Wheelock College, Boston,MA

November 2010
5- Rice University, Houston, Texas

December 2010

TBA

January 2011

TBA

February 2011

7- Newton Free Library, Newton, MA, 7-9 p.m. Q & A w/ director

Screening of The Skin Quilt Project in East Orange, NJ!

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 10:15:00 -0500

The Nubian Heritage Quilt Guild will be celebrating their 15th anniversary on Saturday, March 13th, and as a part of their celebration they will be hosting a screening of The Skin Quilt Project in their program!

So if your in the New Jersey area, and you’d like to get additional information about the screening event as well as the other anniversary festivities please contact us at: info@skinquiltproject.com and we’ll forward you to their representative.

Screening of The Skin Quilt Project in Lowell, MA

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:39:00 -0500

Hello everyone!

On March 20, 2010 at 1:30 p.m. there will be a screening of The Skin Quilt Project at the New England Quilt Museum located at: 18 Shattuck Street, Lowell, Massachusetts 01852.The community screening is hosted by the Lowell Film Collaborative.

For more details contact: info@skinquiltproject.com

Host a screening event for The Skin Quilt Project!

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 11:55:00 -0500

Great news everyone, post-production of The Skin Quilt Project is complete!

We’re truly excited, but there is certainly more work to do. We are putting together our calendar of events, including community and film festival screenings so we’ll be posting the list of locations and dates that will be showing the film in March 2010.

But we would like to extend an invitation to all of our supporters to take part in this process. You too can be a part of spreading the message of the film in your community!

Regardless of whether your hosting your event in a theatre, church, cafe, community center, or even in your own home we’d be happy to partner with you to ensure that you have everything you need to host the event you desire.

If you would like additional information on how you can host a screening in your area, please contact us at: info@skinquiltproject.com

Vermelle “Bunnie” Rodriguez, director of the Gullah...

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:22:00 -0500

Vermelle “Bunnie” Rodriguez, director of the Gullah Museum( Pawley’s Island, SC) talks about the Africanisms represented in the Gullah/Geechee Culture. Rodriguez is an avid story quilter and member of the local quilting circle in her community.

The Skin Quilt Project features fiber artists Wendell George...

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 14:23:00 -0500

The Skin Quilt Project features fiber artists Wendell George Brown and Michael Cummings in the upcoming documentary, here they discus the misconceptions of gender in African-American quilting and the history of male influences in textile/fiber arts.

The Skin Quilt Project features quilt historian Dr. Carolyn...

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 11:33:33 -0500

The Skin Quilt Project features quilt historian Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi discussing her journey into researching and documenting contemporary African American quilts.

The Skin Quilt Project featured in Glimpse Journal's Color issue!

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:58:00 -0500

Check out Page 78-81 to read about Director, Lauren Cross and The Skin Quilt Project in Glimpse Journal!

Director of Music and composer for The Skin Quilt Project, Solomon Cross!

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:02:00 -0500

Introducing the official Director of Music & Composer for The Skin Quilt Project score, Solomon Cross. Solomon Cross is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts where he received his Masters in Music,and the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston in Houston,Texas where he earned his bachelors. He will be releasing his debut album, Be Free on November 27, 2009. Only 4 days left to pre-order your copy for only $10! Feel free to check out his website( www.solomoncrossonline.com) for more details.

African American Quilting Scholars in The Skin Quilt Project!

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:37:00 -0500

The Skin Quilt Project will be interviewing two of the most cutting-edge African American quilting scholars of today, Ms. Kyra Hicks (Arlington,VA) and Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi( West Chester, OH). Both have contributed extensively to the development of writings on the African American quilting tradition, as well as elevating the history and stories of the African-American quilters that they feature.

Kyra Hicks is the author of Black Threads: An African American Quilting Sourcebook(2003), Martha Ann’s Quilt for Queen Victoria(2006), and her recently published book This I Accomplish: Harriet Powers’ Bible Quilt and Other Pieces(2009).

Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi is the author of Spirits of the Cloth: Contemporary African American Quilts(1998); Textural Rhythms: Quilting the Jazz Tradition(Paper Moon Publications, 2007); and Quilting African American Women’s History: Our Creativity, Champions and Challenges(Paper Moon Publications, 2008). She is also an independent curator of exhibitions such as Threads of Faith(2004); Quilting African American Women’s History: Our Creativity, Champions and Challenges(2008); and she also assisted curator, Roland Freeman with the inaugural exhibition, Quilts for Obama: Celebrating the Inaugration of our 44th President. Dr. Mazloomi is the founder of the Women of Color Quilters Network, an organization built to foster and preserve the art of quiltmaking among women of color. Her new book The Journey of Hope in America: Art Quilts Inspired by Presideny Barack Obama is scheduled for release in December 2009. The Skin Quilt Project participant Sherry Shine’s art Quilt is featured on the cover.

Quilting in South Carolina and the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor!

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:11:00 -0500

What a treat we’re in for during on the upcoming trip to South Carolina, with an amazing lineup of African American and Gullah quilters!

To give you an introduction, the Gullah/Geechee culture is one of the most-defined groups of African Americans who have managed to maintain a strong connection to their African roots, some of their tools of expression being basket-weaving and quilting traditions! The Gullah/Geechee cultural presence can be traced from the coasts of North Carolina all the way down to Jacksonville, Florida. To find out more about the Gullah/Geechee culture check out the link to the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor.

There is also a great rooted history of the African American culture in places like Charleston and Georgetown, South Carolina leading back to the transportation of slaves from Africa. I’ve often heard about the historic slave market in Charleston, but in the context of The Skin Quilt Project it has new meaning. If anyone has ever read the book, Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad( Jacqueline L. Tobin and Raymond G. Dobard, Ph.D) you know exactly what I mean. The story is about a woman in Charleston, SC who revealed a secret code used in the underground railroad during slavery. It’s a fascinating and thought provoking book that suggests the cultural connections between the history of the African American quilting tradition, slavery, and the Underground railroad. Despite it’s interesting points, the theories in the book have also been questioned by many scholars and historians as they debate whether there was truly a “secret code” during slavery. Where it’s true or not it’s certainly an interesting take on the African American quilting tradition.

During the upcoming trip we will also be visiting a variety of historical sites that will allow us to visualize the history of the African American experience in the south.

We’re excited to be interviewing quilters Wendell George Brown, Cookie Washington, Vermelle “Bunny” Rodrigues at the Gullah Museum, and Dorothy Montgomery. Please stay tuned for more updates on what we found!

The Skin Quilt Project featured in Glimpse Journal's Color issue!

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:29:00 -0400

Stay tuned to the upcoming “Color” issue of the Glimpse Journal, an interdisciplinary journal that examines the functions, processes, and effects of vision and its implications for being, knowing, and constructing our world(s). Director of The Skin Quilt Project, Lauren Cross has contributed a essay to the Glimpse vol 2.3, Color issue detailing the conception of the documentary and her personal experiences with colorism. Check out the posting on the project on the Glimpse Journal blog!

On the set with The Skin Quilt Project!

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:26:00 -0400

On the set of The Skin Quilt Project with Dr. Midge Wilson, Professor of Psychology and Associate Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences at DePaul University(Chicago, IL), quilter Mrs. Auian Ward featuring her beautiful wealth of quilts(Houston, Texas), and artist Carolyn Crump in the studio( Houston, Texas).

Photo credits:

Photos of Mrs. Auian Ward and Carolyn Crump by Lauren Cross

Photos of Dr. Midge Wilson by Jewelette Christopher

Spoken Word poets featured in The Skin Quilt Project!

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:58:18 -0400

The Skin Quilt Project will feature the collaborative work of New York poets Mahogany Browne and Darian Dauchan performing a new poem about the African American quilting tradition. I’m so excited about what they’ve put together, they are both notable poets( and performers) who have spread their artistry across the country and we’re honored to have them apart of the project. Be sure to check out their work on myspace.com!

Mahogany Browne: www.myspace.com/mahoganylbrowne

Darian Dauchan: www.myspace.com/darianurbangriot

Check out the teaser for The Skin Quilt Project...

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:05:00 -0400

Check out the teaser for The Skin Quilt Project (www.skinquiltproject.com).This clip features quilters Carolyn Crump, Dr. Madeline Wright, The Blue Triangle Quilt Guild of Houston, Texas, and Aundrea Matthews, Ph.d candidate from Rice University, Houston, Texas. Director, Lauren Cross —2.53 minutes

Skin Quilt Project featuring Dr. Midge Wilson and Kathy Russell, two of three co-authors of "The Color Complex: The Politics of Skin Color Among African Americans."

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 10:05:00 -0400

Anyone who has done any significant research on colorism in the African American community would have had to run into this book, The Color Complex: The Politics of Skin Color Among African Americans. In the two years that I’ve researched the topic of colorism in the African American community I found their text to be one of the most helpful and most objective, of course there are a number of great books out there, but I found their perspective to convey both the emotions behind the topic as well as really looking at the subject as not victim or blame but by tracing the origins of these ideas and how its taken affect in the lives of different people. I would encourage anyone interested in digging deeper into this subject to read this book.

I will have the pleasure to meet with both Dr. Midge Wilson and Kathy Russell in Chicago, IL within the next couple of weeks to talk about the issues of colorism in the African American community, and even more specifically how far we’ve come since they originally wrote their book in 1992.

Image Caption: Brown, Wendell George, They Thankful Poor:...

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 09:47:00 -0400

Image Caption: Brown, Wendell George, They Thankful Poor: Chicken Potatoes and String Beans. 5.5 ft x 5.5ft.

Skin Quilt Project Participant, artist Wendell George Brown, is widely exhibited African American artist and art professor at Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina. We are so excited to have his participation in the project as his work directly engages us in the use of skin color politics, yet his work “attempts to look at the politics of Black Skin as a tool of empowerment-not a tool to divide.” For him colorism stems from a western concept that was impemented within the African American community during slavery to “turn house slaves again field slaves.” His quilts place the context of ”black power” and strength into black skin.

In November 2009, we’ll be interviewing Mr. Brown along with a group of African American quilters from Charleston, South Carolina.

Donate to The Skin Quilt Project!

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 02:53:00 -0400

The Skin Quilt Project, is a new documentary about the influence of the African American quilting tradition in encouraging an appreciation for African American cultural heritage. The main focus of the film is to discuss how quilting provides confidence and self-esteem to African Americans who quilt, specifically for those who have suffered from the affects of colorism or skin color prejudice within the African American community.

The film will feature interviews from African American students, professionals,artists, quilters, and scholars of African American culture, as well as footage of fellowship between women(and men) of African descent through quilting. By combining discussions on colorism with the influence of the African American quilting tradition, the hope is that African Americans dealing with insecurities about skin color can gain a deeper understanding of how to overcome the “color complex.” As some of the project participants confess, being apart of a community or group that joins together for a common creative purpose has proved to help individuals become better equipped to overcome or deal with social issues.

Currently the film is in the production process, as I’ve began filming in August 2009 in my hometown of Houston, Texas. So far the filming has created an awesome opportunity for me to connect with so many fascinating men and women, who were willing to make a contribution to the project. I’m just returning from my second trip to Houston, and in October through November 2009 I’ll begin a series of traveling to a number of locations including New York/New Jersey, Chicago, Ohio, South Carolina, Alabama, and possibly Michigan to interview participants. Together the interviews will connect the core elements needed to communicate a well-rounded view of the subject.

I’m encouraging your financial support towards the project, as such traveling comes with tremendous costs, and requires an extensive amount of support to make it happen. From airfare to accommodations in each location the fees that put together a film can be an overwhelming task. I’ve made the great sacrifice to dedicate my time and finances to begin the production process, however, in order to fully accomplish this goal( completing production by the end of November 2009 and finishing post-production by the end of December 2009) it will take the help from outside sponsors to ensure that this project comes into fruition.

As far as future plans, I plan to submit the film to film festivals both nationally and internationally, and market the film for public broadcast and distribution once the post-production is complete(January 2009).

Due to the economic climate, I understand that the idea of giving may seem like a challenge, however, I urge you to consider contributing to this project and here are the reasons why…

1. I believe The Skin Quilt Project will make a tremendous impact and contribution to society.

2. Most importantly, your donations are tax-deductible!!

The Skin Quilt Project is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions in behalf of The Skin Quilt Project may be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

Please know that your support is appreciated regardless of the amount, and I believe that there is never a donation too small. Note: Each person who gives towards the production of The Skin Quilt Project will be mentioned in the credits of the film.

There are two ways to donate online or by check. To make your donation online please click this link. Checks should be made payable to Fractured Atlas, with The Skin Quilt Project in the memo line. For donations of $1,000 or more please submit the attached Major Gift Letter form with your check. Please email me at info@skinquiltproject.com for where to send donations by check. Note: You can donate up to $5,000 on the online payment form, which you can get to on The Skin Quilt Project website or directly through the following link. If you’re planning to make an online submission let me know if you have any questions. Online submissions over $1,000 made through The Skin Quilt Project donation link don’t require the Major Gift Letter form.

Thanks for your time and generous support, and please feel free to contact me for any further details.

Sincerely,

Lauren Cross

Director, The Skin Quilt Project

info@skinquiltproject.com

Participant of The Skin Quilt Project, Dr. Madeline Wright,...

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 00:05:00 -0400

Participant of The Skin Quilt Project, Dr. Madeline Wright, Professor of Psychology at Houston Community College holding up one her quilts. Dr. Wright was one of the founders of the Blue Triangle Quilt Guild and was once the director over the Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church’s young women’s rites of passage program.

In her segment of The Skin Quilt Project, Dr. Wright talks about the influence of having a “coming out” for young African American women. She has used the African American quilting tradition as a way for the young women to learn the history of African American quilters as well as develop confidence in who themselves.

A significant point that Dr. Wright encourages is the need for people to engage in activities that allow for fellowship in groups, such as quilting guilds. She explains that studies show that people who are are involved in groups “live longer and fuller lives.” I don’t know about you but that sounds like a great incentive to start interacting with one another, maybe even quilting and being a part of a quilt guild! Thanks to Dr. Wright for her participation in the project as well as all of the quilters in the Blue Triangle Quilt Guild. Stay tuned for more!