Alabama is home to numerous traditional art forms that continue to be practiced within families and communities throughout the region. Traditional, yet typically utilitarian, such forms include basket making, pottery, instrument making and quilting. The master artists in traditional forms have developed their mastery within their cultural community and often serve as formal or informal mentors to younger generations.
MOZELL BENSON: Opelika/Waverly, quilting. Growing up as the daughter of a sharecropper in rural Alabama with nine brothers and sisters, Mozell Benson learned quilting from her mother at an early age. A National Endowment for the Arts’ National Heritage Fellowship recipient, Benson’s work is celebrated for its African American improvisational style and bold colors and has been featured in exhibitions throughout the United States.
JERRY BROWN: Hamilton, pottery. An important link between the past and future of southern folk pottery, Jerry Brown continues the tradition of creating alkaline-glazed stoneware butter churns, crocks and bowls as well as decorative face jugs. A National Endowment for the Arts’ National Heritage Fellowship recipient and an Alabama State Council on the Arts Heritage Award recipient, Jerry Brown is an acclaimed ninth-generation potter.
WILLIAM “GENE” IVEY: Ider, fiddle/instrument making. The first time he ever saw a fiddle as a child, Gene Ivey knew he was meant to play the instrument. By the age of nine he was working out his first tunes on a tin fiddle from Sears and Roebuck. More than seven decades later, he is still playing music, most often on a fiddle he made himself.
BETTYE KIMBRELL: Mt. Olive, quilting. Bettye Kimbrell learned quilting from her grandmother and is one of the South’s outstanding traditional hand quilters, known for her precise needlework. She is a member of the Southern Highland Handcraft Guild and received the Alabama Folk Heritage Award in 1995.
CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS
Contemporary craft in the South possesses its own rich history. Generally trained in college or specialized craft schools, but occasionally self-taught, these masters produce objects from materials that include glass, clay, wood, metal and textiles. Their work is sold and exhibited nationally.
CAL BREED: Ft. Payne, glass. Cal Breed has built a glass-making facility on a mountain near Fort Payne. He learned to work with glass at Haystack and the Pilchuck Glass School as well as studying with international masters. His work includes functional forms as well as sculptural vessels. He is recipient of the ASCA Individual Artist Fellowship.
JOHN PHILLIPS: Montgomery, metal/forged iron. Phillip’s initial exposure to blacksmithing came as he worked on a Vision Quest wagon train. Returning to Montgomery, he established a professional business producing iron furniture, decorative elements and sculpture. His work has been published in national magazines and summaries of contemporary artist-blacksmiths. He is recipient of the ASCA Individual Artist Fellowship.
CHARLES SMITH: Mobile, pottery. Smith began his career in the arts in the 1970s following a tour of duty in Vietnam. His clay pieces are identified by a carved, sgraffito technique, with visual images often capturing abstract elements of the gulf and sky near his home. His work was included in the traveling exhibit: “Uncommon Beauty in Common Objects: The Legacy of African American Craft Art.” He is recipient of the ASCA Individual Artist Fellowship.
Prepared by Georgine Clark, Program Manager, Visual Arts, Alabama State Council on the Arts