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Open · Until 17 Jan 2027

Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California

Sherry Ann Byrd (pieced 1990, Richmond, California) and Irene Bankhead (quilted 1990, Oakland, California), Cultural Merger at Crossroads, USA , 1990; Cotton, cotton/polyester blend, and rayon; hand-pieced and quilted; 95 x 75 ½ in.; Bequest of the Eli Leon Living Trust, BAMPFA‬; Courtesy of Sherry Ann Byrd; Photo by Kevin Candland

Sherry Ann Byrd (pieced 1990, Richmond, California) and Irene Bankhead (quilted 1990, Oakland, California), Cultural Merger at Crossroads, USA , 1990; Cotton, cotton/polyester blend, and rayon; hand-pieced and quilted; 95 x 75 ½ in.; Bequest of the Eli Leon Living Trust, BAMPFA‬; Courtesy of Sherry Ann Byrd; Photo by Kevin Candland · License

Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California is on view at National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C., United States, until January 17, 2027.

Last verified October 23, 2026 · Official source ↗

Featuring nearly 80 artworks, this exhibition explores how African American migrants brought quilting traditions from the rural South to California during the Second Great Migration. The featured textiles showcase techniques like improvisational piecing, tying, and repurposing clothes, demonstrating how generations used creative labor to preserve ancestral memory.

Venue

  1. National Museum of Women in the Arts
    Washington, D.C., United States · September 18, 2026 – January 17, 2027
    Until 17 Jan 2027

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Images

Exhibition image for Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California

Sherry Ann Byrd (pieced 1990, Richmond, California) and Irene Bankhead (quilted 1990, Oakland, California), Cultural Merger at Crossroads, USA , 1990; Cotton, cotton/polyester blend, and rayon; hand-pieced and quilted; 95 x 75 ½ in.; Bequest of the Eli Leon Living Trust, BAMPFA‬; Courtesy of Sherry Ann Byrd; Photo by Kevin Candland

Sherry Ann Byrd (pieced 1990, Richmond, California) and Irene Bankhead (quilted 1990, Oakland, California), Cultural Merger at Crossroads, USA , 1990; Cotton, cotton/polyester blend, and rayon; hand-pieced and quilted; 95 x 75 ½ in.; Bequest of the Eli Leon Living Trust, BAMPFA‬; Courtesy of Sherry Ann Byrd; Photo by Kevin Candland · License · Source ↗

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