Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California
June 8, 2025–November 30, 2025
Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California traces the flow and flourishing of quilts in the context of the Second Great Migration through approximately one hundred quilts representing the work of eighty individuals, many of them women. It is the first group show drawn from a transformative bequest of African American quilts that the museum received in 2019.
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Installation view: Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, June 8–November 30, 2025. Photo by Daria Lugina.
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Installation view: Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, June 8–November 30, 2025. Photo by Daria Lugina.
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Installation view: Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, June 8–November 30, 2025. Photo by Chris Grunder.
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Installation view: Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, June 8–November 30, 2025. Photo by Daria Lugina.
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Installation view: Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, June 8–November 30, 2025. Photo by Daria Lugina.
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Installation view: Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, June 8–November 30, 2025. Photo by Daria Lugina.
- Upcoming
Films - Past
Films - Past
Events
Upcoming Events
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Selected Wednesdays at 12:15 PM; Sundays at 2 PM; First Free Thursdays at 2 PMExhibition Tour: Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California
Graduate students from the Departments of Folklore, History of Art, and African American Studies offer tours of Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California.
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Sunday, July 27, 1 PMImprovisational Quilt Print Workshop
Join artist Matt Katsaros for an afternoon of improvisational quiltmaking through the lens of collage and risograph printing.
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Sunday, August 31, 1 PMBundle Dyeing with Summer Flowers
Join local artist Melinda Supanee Katz for a magical class exploring color, repetition, and abstraction through the process of bundle dyeing silk with flowers and steam.
Past Events
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Saturday, July 12, 11:30 AM–1 PMGallery+Studio / Mixed-Media Posters: United We Win!
Make a quilt-inspired mixed-media poster celebrating Bay Area history.
For ages 6–12 with accompanying adult(s)
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Sunday, June 29, 1 PMFabric Postcard Workshop
Discover the joy of working with fabric and thread and create your own miniature quilt!
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Saturday, June 28, 12–4 PMQuilt Documentation Day
Preserve your African American family history with the African American Quilt Documentation Study Group. Bring in your family quilt to be documented in the national African American Quilt Registry.
Advance registration required
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Sunday, June 22, 2 PM; Thursday, July 3, 1:15 PMCurator Tour: Elaine Yau on Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California
BAMPFA Associate Curator and Academic Liaison Elaine Yau shares in-depth stories of individual quilts in the exhibition that illuminate the bonds of love, kinship, commemoration, and innovative artistry entwined in their making.
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Selected Wednesdays at 12:15 PM; Sundays at 2 PM; First Free Thursdays at 2 PMExhibition Tour: Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California
Graduate students from the Departments of Folklore, History of Art, and African American Studies offer tours of Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California.
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Saturday, June 14, 11:30 AM–1 PMGallery+Studio / Family and Community Quiltmaking
Learn how fabrics migrate from one use to another and end up as quilts, and make a unique quilt square of your own.
For ages 6–12 with accompanying adult(s)
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Sunday, June 8, 11 AM–7 PM
Free Community Day: Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California
Join us for the opening day of Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California with free gallery admission for all!
Free admission all day
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Sunday, June 8, 11:30 AM–2 PMArt Making for All Ages
Drop in and make art in BAMPFA’s Crane Forum space, next to the Art Wall. Materials will be provided.
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Sunday, June 8, 2:30 PM
Curator's Welcome: Routed West
To celebrate the opening of Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California, BAMPFA Associate Curator and Academic Liaison Elaine Yau offers a brief overview of the exhibition and shares the journey of organizing the show from over three thousand quilts in the museum collection.
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Saturday, June 7, 1–7 PMPreview Day: Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California
BAMPFA members and UC Berkeley students, faculty, and staff are invited to enjoy early access to the exhibition Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California.
For BAMPFA members and UC Berkeley students, faculty, and staff.
Past Films
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