King’s Bend
a Bloomsdale x Philly x Gee’s Bend Exchange
Working with Andrea Walls from Museum of Black Joy to create a 400 ft community walkable orchard path with native and traditional trees, herbs, vines and shrubs and signage by local artists. We will install a well, water catchment system and outdoor kitchen for harvesting and processing, and community events. Our goal is to contribute to the growth of Gees Bend through tstewarding this space that reflects the natural abundance some members have told us they remember having as children when there was more wild, communal food in Gees Bend like Black berries, figs, peaches, muscadine grapes. This will also be space for cultural exchanges between Philly and Gees Bend.
So our project is off to a good start! Andrea is getting started on her side of the fence this fall…hopefully we’ll catch up soon. For now we’re just keeping in clear and in search of a cover crop…
Isn’t she beautiful?! Andrea and I went with forestry mulching to preserve the all the natural goodness from the left over stumps and brush on the land. Most of the trees were removed before we purchased it…
Before the forestry mulching…Andrea creating an assemblage from the brush on the land as a blessing and an exercise in connection….
Before the forestry mulching…
This beautiful red road…site of the future walkable edible heritage path…
Visiting Ms. Mary’s farm and her beautiful quilts…
Vashti Dubois Founder of the Colored Girls Museum, Leona Brewington Founder of Gloria Association Quilting, Andrea Walls Founder of Museum of Black Joy, Dr. Jaye Bryant founder of Black Girls Sew
We had a soul reviving visit to Gee’s Bend!
1945 acrylic on canvas, painted by Misty Sol, 18x 24 in
1945
by Misty Sol
painted 2019 as a part of the “King’s Bend” Installation for Philadelphia Museum of Art, “Soul’s Grown Deep” artist residency. The painting is based on a reference photo of my mother as a toddler in 1945. The installation draws inspiration from her stories of plantation life on King’s Farm in Bucks County, PA and draws connections to the the Black vernacular arts of the American South. The humble newspaper covered walls of her one room cabin draws a parallel to the aesthetic of the homes of the Gee’s Bend artists of the same era. The use of scrap fabric, newspaper, old photos, and found objects symbolizes the igenuity, fine artistry, selfcare and community care in these Black communities.
Kings Bend installation 2019 by Misty Sol, rag doll, acrylic painting on canvas, found objects. Costume by Monica Alvanel.
Photo by PMA
Stories, Songs, and Stitches
China Pettway of Gee’s Bend teaching me the housetop pattern of quilting in 2019. She told us stories of joy and survival related to quilting. During the Gee’s Bend quilting retreat in Mississippi, we learned that the process of quilting strengthens relationships in the physical and spiritual community.
Gees Bend Alabama circa 1937 photo by Rothstein, Arthur