Radical Tradition: American Quilts and Social Chan

Radical Tradition: American Quilts and Social Change

Disrupting our expectations of quilts as objects that provide warmth and comfort, Radical Tradition: American Quilts and Social Change explores the complicated and often overlooked stories quilts tell about the American experience. The more than thirty quilts highlighted in this catalogue, some made from surprising materials, respond to such issues as the Vietnam War, mass incarceration, women’s suffrage, LGBTQ+ rights, and immigration. With works reflecting historical, regional, and cultural diversity, Radical Tradition considers how quilts have been used to voice opinions, raise awareness, and enact social reform in the United States from the mid-nineteenth century to the present.

Published in conjunction with the exhibition Radical Tradition: American Quilts and Social Change, exclusively at the Toledo Museum of Art, November 21, 2020–February 14, 2021.

Written by Lauren Applebaum, Associate Curator of American Art at the Toledo Museum...

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