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.
Read full descriptionMake a quilt-inspired mixed-media poster celebrating Bay Area history.
For ages 6–12 with accompanying adult(s)
Discover the joy of working with fabric and thread and create your own miniature quilt!
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
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.
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.
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)
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
Drop in and make art in BAMPFA’s Crane Forum space, next to the Art Wall. Materials will be provided.
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.
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.