Mary Lee Bendolph facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mary Lee Bendolph
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Bendolph in 2015
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| Born | 1935 (age 89–90) Boykin, Alabama, U.S.
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| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Quilting |
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Notable work
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Strings (2003–04), Past and Gone (2005) |
| Movement | Gee's Bend Collective |
Mary Lee Bendolph (born 1935) is an American quilt maker. She is part of the famous Gee's Bend Collective from Gee's Bend, Alabama. Her beautiful quilts have inspired many other artists. They have been shown in museums and art galleries all over the country.
Mary Lee Bendolph often uses fabric from old clothes for her quilts. She does this to honor the "love and spirit" found in the old cloth. She has lived her whole life in Gee's Bend. Her artwork has been displayed in important places like the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Minneapolis Institute of Art in Minnesota.
In 1999, the Los Angeles Times newspaper wrote about Mary Lee Bendolph. Their article, "Crossing Over," won a Pulitzer Prize. It was about bringing back ferry service across the Alabama River, which was very important for the people of Gee's Bend.
Contents
Mary Lee Bendolph's Life Story
Mary Lee Bendolph grew up in Gee's Bend, Alabama. She learned the art of quilting from her mother, Aolar Mosely, when she was just 12 years old. She had her first child at age 14, which meant she couldn't go to school past the sixth grade.
In 1955, she married Rubin Bendolph, and they had eight children together. In 1965, Mary Lee Bendolph took part in a march led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Camden, Alabama. This was during the Civil Rights Movement, a time when people worked to end unfair treatment and gain equal rights for all. After she retired in 1992, Bendolph spent even more time making her amazing quilts.
During the Civil Rights Movement, the quilts from Gee's Bend became famous across the country. The women of Gee's Bend formed the Freedom Quilting Bee. They sold their quilts all over the United States. This helped bring money back to their community. The tradition of quilt making by African American women in Gee's Bend goes back a very long time, even to the 1700s.
Her Amazing Quilting Career
The quilts made in Gee's Bend mix traditional African American quilting styles with simple, geometric designs. These designs have been compared to the art of modern artists like Henri Matisse and Paul Klee. The Gee's Bend quilters started getting a lot of attention in the late 1990s. This led to a big art show at the Whitney Museum of Modern Art. Many other shows and books about their work followed.
Like other quilters from Gee's Bend, Mary Lee Bendolph turned everyday fabrics into bright and lively artworks. She used materials like denim (from jeans) and corduroy. Getting attention from the art world helped Bendolph see herself as a true artist. This made her want to create new kinds of art. For example, she made a series of prints called intaglio prints. She worked on these with her daughter-in-law, Louisiana, in 2005.
In 2006, one of her quilts, called "Housetop" variation, was even featured on a US Postal service stamp! This was part of a special series honoring the Gee's Bend quilters.
Mary Lee Bendolph was also featured in a TV episode in 2011. The episode was called "Gee's Bend: The Most Famous Quilts in America." It was part of a series called Why Quilts Matter: History, Art & Politics.
In 2015, she received the National Heritage Fellowship. This is a very high honor from the National Endowment for the Arts. It's the United States government's top award for folk and traditional artists.
In 2020, the National Gallery of Art bought one of Mary Lee Bendolph's quilts. They also bought works by eight other quilters from Gee's Bend. This shows how important their art is.
Exhibitions of Her Work
Mary Lee Bendolph's quilts and prints have been shown in many important art exhibitions:
- The Quilt's of Gee's Bend, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, 2002.
- Recent Prints from Gee's Bend, Mary Lee Bendolph & Louisiana Bendolph, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, Oregon, 2005.
- Mary Lee Bendolph & Louisiana Bendolph: Prints and Quilts from Gee's Bend, Addison/Ripley Fine Art, Washington, D.C., 2006.
- Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt, Museum of Fine Art, Houston, Texas, 2006.
- Piece Together: The Quilts of Mary Lee Bendolph, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, South Hadley, Massachusetts, 2018.
- Called To Create: Black Artists of the American South, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2022–2023.
Where Her Art is Kept
Mary Lee Bendolph's quilts are part of the permanent collections in many famous museums. This means her art is owned by these museums and can be seen by visitors. Some of these places include:
- High Museum of Art, Atlanta
- Huntington Library, San Marino, California
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
- Museum of Modern Art, New York
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
- Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton
See also
