The Story Quilts of Yvonne Wells

By Stacy I. Morgan and Yvonne Thomas Wells; Foreword by Gail C. Andrews

University of Alabama Press

The introduction and definitive guide to the work of celebrated folk artist Yvonne Wells, whose vibrant, innovative story quilts address an array of historic, cultural, and religious themes

The Story Quilts of Yvonne Wells is an introduction and definitive guide to the self-taught quilter whose expansive body of work serves as testament to the sweeping tides of American life and Wells’s significance as a major figure within the folk art and art world writ large.

Beginning when she was nearly 40 years old and without formal training, Wells created her first quilt for practical use but was soon hand stitching appliqué figures into bold, original designs that unleashed her voice as a storyteller. Incorporating a wide variety of symbolic materials and unconventional objects—“anything I can stick a needle in”—Wells’s vivid story quilts reveal a fearless and encyclopedic vision ranging from the intimately autobiographical to iconic scenes from African American history, the Bible, Southern culture, and contemporary headlines.

The result of years of close collaboration between Stacy I. Morgan and Wells herself, The Story Quilts of Yvonne Wells is richly illustrated with more than 100 quilts accompanied by narratives about each, told in the artist's own words, and interspersed with in-depth essays documenting Wells’s unique artistic practice and creative journey during her five-decade art career.

Morgan lets Wells tell her story without intruding, while deftly critiquing her work within that storyline. . . . She is the narrator, as she is of all her quilts, but Morgan amplifies her meaning, delving deeper into the symbolism for the benefit of the viewer. It is a very effective partnership.’ —Gail Andrews Trechsel, coauthor of Southern Quilts: A New View

Stacy I. Morgan is professor in the Department of American Studies at the University of Alabama. He is author of Frankie and Johnny: Race, Gender, and the Work of African American Folklore in 1930s America (winner of the Wayland D. Hand Prize from the American Folklore Society) and Rethinking Social Realism: African American Art and Literature, 1930–1953.

Yvonne Thomas Wells is a contemporary artist and lifelong educator from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. She is a recipient of the Governor’s Arts Award from the Alabama State Council on the Arts and has represented Alabama in exhibitions in Vence, France, and Pietrasanta, Italy. Her art is in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the High Museum of Art, the International Quilt Museum, and the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, among other art institutions.

Foreword by Gail C. Andrews

Author’s Note

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1. “Anything I Can Stick a Needle In”: The Life and Artistic Vision of Yvonne Wells

Gallery A. Traditional Quilts

Gallery B. Religious Emphasis Quilts

Chapter 2. An Unconventional Canvas: Yvonne Wells and the Art World

Gallery C. Children’s Moment Quilts

Gallery D. Potluck Quilts

Chapter 3. Stitching Freedom: Yvonne Wells as Social Historian

Gallery E. Sociopolitical Quilts

Appendix 1. Chronology