Peggie Hartwell
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Peggie Hartwell | |
|---|---|
| Born | Peggie Hartwell January 9, 1939 |
| Known for | Quilting |
| Website | peggiehartwell |
Peggie Lois Hartwell, (born 1939) is a fourth-generation African-American quilter and educator.[1] She currently lives in Summerville, South Carolina. She serves on the national board of the Women of Color Quilters Network.[2]
Peggie Hartwell grew up on a farm with a large, extended family. She was born in 1939 in Springfield, South Carolina. The women were skilled quiltmakers, and the men were accomplished practitioners in the ancient tradition of oral storytelling.
Hartwell's family, along with many other southern African-American families, moved north as part of the Great Migration. Hartwell completed her education in urban New York City.[3]
Performance work
Hartwell studied with legendary dance master Syvilla Fort of New York City. She also obtained a B.A. in Theater from Queens College. She then spent nearly eight years performing Jazz, Modern Primitive and Modern dance techniques throughout Europe and the Middle East.[4]
Visual artwork
Hartwell developed as a quilt artist after leaving performance art, while also holding a day job at a brokerage firm. Her work is mostly autobiographical, drawing upon the continuous exposure to folk-life customs and traditions she had in her youth.
Her piece "African Skies and Southern Soil" can be found in the collection of the Museum of Arts and Design.[5]
In 1996, Hartwell received a grant from the National Quilting Association, Inc. to create a ten quilt series that recorded her South Carolina childhood and farm experiences.[6]
Education and career
Hartwell has a B.A. in Theater from Queens College, Queens, N.Y. She also has a Certificate of Completion: Artists in Classrooms, Developing Strategies for Working with Students with Disabilities from S.C. School for the Deaf and Blind, Spartanburg, S.C.. She is on the Roster as a Master Artist for Opus Inc., Hartford, CT. She is also on the Roster as Artist in the Classroom for the State of South Carolina.[4]
Selected exhibitions
Solo exhibitions
- "A Quilter's Spirit," YMI Culture Arts Center, Asheville, NC, 2000.[7]
- "Vanished Images," New York Founding Hospital, New York, NY, 2000
Group exhibitions
- "Threads of Faith," Beach Institute for African American Art & Culture Savannah, GA 2006
- "Threads of Faith," Cincinnati Museum Center, Cincinnati, OH, 2005
- "Threads of Faith," Gallery of the American Bible Society, New York, NY, 2004.[8]
- "Sixth Annual Quilting Weekend," Frost Valley YMCA, Claryville, NY, 2002
- "Stories in Art," Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT, 2001
