New Altama Museum Gallery Stitches Community Together

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The Altama Museum of Art and History recently unveiled their newest gallery, “Stitched Together: A Community Fiber Arts Show.” This gallery will be available for viewing until May 22.

According to Altama Museum Trustee Lachele Yancey and Museum Director Donna Belcher, the idea for a fiber arts show first arose after former Altama Museum Director Jenn Martinez hosted a quilting display over two years ago, which was a huge hit with the public. Prior to Martinez’s departure from the museum, she mapped out plans for upcoming shows throughout the years, which included another quilting show. The museum showcased a gallery of needlework completed by local oncologist Rusty Payne in November and the Altama trustees and staff were encouraged by the public’s response to the craft. “There was such an interest in his needlework that we said, ‘Let’s do fiber arts instead of just quilting.’ And because its fiber arts, that opened us up to all types of art – beadwork, rugmaking, baskets – this is even more than I realized in the art world,” Yancey explained.

Upon deciding to host a fiber arts show, museum officials decided to use a historic quilt showcased in the Montgomery County Courthouse as a foundation piece for the show. The quilt was made between 1915 and 1917 for a church raffle, as it featured around 20 squares each displaying a unique family tree. Montgomery County Citizen Gail Mc-Daniel owns the quilt.

In addition to this quilt, another historic Montgomery County quilt has been moved from the Montgomery County Courthouse to the Museum for the show. This second quilt features drawings of several historic landmarks throughout Montgomery County and was completed by elementary school students as a school project decades ago.

Once determining the foundation pieces and beginning to spread the word about the community show, the submissions began to pour in. “Once people started hearing that it was open to fiber arts, they started to say, ‘Oh, my grandmother did such and such!’ and it just rolled in,” Yancey remarked.

“We do have a little bit of everything – a lot of the community is represented,” Belcher added.

Some pieces within the exhibit include needlepoint portraits, rugs, beadwork, traditional Native American attire, historic clothing and quilts, doll clothing, smocked dresses, and more. Contributors to the show range in age from 11 years-old up.

The Altama Museum of Art and History is open from 10 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. on Monday, Thursday, and Friday, and from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on every first Saturday of the month. For more information, or to schedule an appointment to view the show at other times, call (912) 537-1911.

CLOTHING ITEMS – Several pieces of children’s clothing items, both historic and recently made by local artisans, is showcased at the Fiber Arts Show.Photo by Makaylee Randolph

TRADITIONAL NATIVE AMERICAN CLOTHING – Several pieces of authentic Native American ceremonial clothing were submitted to the exhibit.Photo by Makaylee Randolph