Carolyn L. Mazloomi facts for kids

Carolyn L. Mazloomi, whose birth name was Carolyn Louise Stewart, was born on August 22, 1948. She is an American artist, writer, and historian. She is especially known for her beautiful quilts. Carolyn is also a curator, which means she helps organize art shows. Before becoming famous for her art, she was an aerospace engineer. Carolyn strongly supports showing and writing about quilts made by African-American artists. Her own quilts are designed to tell important stories about African-American history and modern experiences.

About Carolyn's Life

Carolyn Louise Stewart was born in 1948 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Her family enjoyed art, and some were amateur painters. She went to Northrop University in Inglewood, California. After graduating, she worked in Los Angeles as an aerospace engineer. This job involves designing and building aircraft and spacecraft.

In the early 1970s, Carolyn found an Appalachian quilt at a market in Dallas. This discovery sparked her deep interest in quilting. She kept experimenting with quilting while studying for her PhD. She earned her PhD in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California (USC) Viterbi School of Engineering in 1984.

Later, Mazloomi retired from her job as an aerospace engineer. She also worked as a crash site investigator for the Federal Aviation Administration. She is married to an Iranian engineer named Rezvan Mazloomi. They live together in Ohio.

Women of Color Quilters Network

In the mid-1980s, Carolyn wanted to make her small quilting group bigger. This group was for African-American quilters in Los Angeles. When she couldn't easily expand it, she put an advertisement in Quilter's Newsletter Magazine. She asked other quilters who felt the same way to write to her.

Her advertisement led to many letters from other quilters. Because of this, the Women of Color Quilters Network (WOCQN) was started in 1986. This is a national group that now has 1,700 members!

Founding Members

The people who helped start the WOCQN included:

• Carolyn Mazloomi
• Claire E. Carter
• aRma Carter
• Cuesta Benberry
• Meloydy Boyd
• Michael Cummings
• Peggie Hartwell
• Marie Wilson

Carolyn's Quilting Style

Carolyn Mazloomi creates "narrative quilts." This means her quilts tell stories using pictures and designs. She often uses themes like music in her quilts. An aunt who owned a "juke joint" (a type of informal club) in Louisiana inspired her. She also creates quilts about the African-American experience during the Civil Rights Movement.

Carolyn is currently on the board of directors for the Alliance for American Quilts. This group supports quilting in America.

Books Carolyn Has Written

Carolyn has written several books about quilting and African-American art:

• Spirits of the Cloth: Contemporary African American Quilts (1998). ISBN: 978-0609600917
• Threads of Faith: Recent Works from the Women of Color Quilters Network (2004). ISBN: 978-1585167739
• Textural Rhythms: Quilting the Jazz Tradition (2007). ISBN: 978-0979267505
• Quilting African American Women's History Our Challenges, Creativity and Champions (2008). ISBN: 978-0979267512
• The Journey of Hope in America: Quilts Celebrating President Barack Obama (2009). ISBN: 978-0760339350

Awards and Honors

Carolyn Mazloomi has received many important awards for her work:

• In 1999, she won the Black Caucus of the American Library Association Literary Award for Best Nonfiction book. This was for her book Spirits of the Cloth: Contemporary African American Quilts.
• In 2003, she received the first Ohio Heritage Fellowship Award.
• In 2014, Dr. Mazloomi was given a National Heritage Fellowship. Specifically, she received the Bess Lomax Hawes Award. This award comes from the National Endowment for the Arts. It is the highest honor the United States government gives for folk and traditional arts.