Of Salt and Spirit: Black Quilters in the American South

RELEASE DATE: FEB 20, 2026

Weatherspoon Presents Love Letter to Southern Black Quiltmakers in New Exhibition Of Salt and Spirit: Black Quilters in the American South

Greensboro, NC: Quiltmaking is one of the most enduring ways of making meaning and encapsulating memories within Black culture. As historical leaders of this art form, generations of Southern Black women have used quilts to preserve history. Their hands have stitched visual records that maintain centuries of knowledge about the region’s complexities. However, mainstream discourse often exploits their artistry and erases their perspectives. This has led to gaps in scholarship about the lives and voices of those who matter most—the makers.

Of Salt and Spirit: Black Quilters in the American South, organized by the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson, Mississippi, gives overdue attention to this thriving practice and some of the individuals who sustain it today. The Weatherspoon Art Museum is thrilled to present this exhibition on the UNC Greensboro campus now through August 1, 2026. Programming highlights include “In Conversation: Curator Dr. Sharbreon Plummer and Artist Precious D. Lovell,” a discussion of Black Southern quilting’s legacies and ongoing impact between the show’s curator and Precious D. Lovell, creator of the companion installation, Harriet’s Powers. This program will be held during the Weatherspoon’s Spring Open House on Thursday, April 23, from 5:30 to 7:30pm.

Juliette Bianco, the Weatherspoon’s Anne and Ben Cone Memorial Endowed Director, expresses, “Presenting this significant exhibition, organized by the Mississippi Museum of Art, deepens a relationship that began with a joint grant in 2021 focused on expanding institutional impact and change. Learning from others’ accomplishments—and bringing that work into conversation with our own—is both humbling and energizing, and it is a powerful reminder that museums are stronger when we work together in service to our communities. We are honored to share this life-impacting exhibition at the Weatherspoon, and I hope everyone within driving distance makes time to experience it this spring.”

Black folklorist Roland L. Freeman (1936–2023) spent nearly three decades building relationships with Black quilters across the United States and collecting their quilts, with a special interest in the South. Through care and respect for the artists, he documented their lives, processes, and creations. These stories recognize that race, gender, and class should not define or diminish the makers or their works.

Of Salt and Spirit builds upon Freeman’s legacy to shape a love letter to Black quilters of the South, presenting twenty-four quilts and two portraits from the collection of the Mississippi Museum of Art. The exhibition uses a reparative approach to showcase the untold stories of everyday people whose lives are as vibrant and varied as the quilts they created.

Of Salt and Spirit: Black Quilters in the American South is organized by the Mississippi Museum of Art. The exhibition is curated by quilts scholar Dr. Sharbreon Plummer with Lydia Jasper, former Assistant Curator of the Permanent Collection, Mississippi Museum of Art. Support is provided by the Henry Luce Foundation and the Art Dealers Association of America Foundation.

The exhibition’s presentation at the Weatherspoon Art Museum was generously supported by the Greensboro Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Image: Elizabeth T. Scott and Joyce J. Scott, Monsters, Dragons, and Flies, 1982. Fabric, thread, embellishments; appliquéd, hand embroidered, quilted, 68 x 57 inches. Collection of the Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, Gift of the Kohler Foundation, Inc., 2022.9.66.