Tax Help @ BPL

 

Free tax filing assistance for patrons through AARP and SaveFirst, a program from the nonprofit Impact America.  

All you have to do is make an appointment!

Gee's Bend Quilts

 

Assembly: Contemporary Gee's Bend Quilts is kicking off the Birmingham Public Library's Art for Everyone program, a series of art exhibitions slated to take place at Central Library this year. Assembly is currently on view in the Fourth Floor Gallery at the Central Library through February 24, 2024. 

For generations, women from the rural Black community of Boykin, Alabama (more commonly known as "Gee's Bend"), created critically acclaimed quilts from recycled work clothes and dresses, feed sacks, and fabric remnants. This exhibition features 30 quilts dating from 1975 to 2023 by 23 contemporary Gee's Bend artists who continue that tradition.

Featured Artists

* Loretta Pettway Bennett 

* Priscilla Hudson 

* Marlene Bennett Jones 

* Lue Ida McCloud 

* Polly Mooney Middleton 

* Sally Pettway Mixon 

* Cathy Mooney 

* Doris Pettway Mosely 

* Caster Pettway 

* Edwina Pettway 

* Emma Mooney Pettway 

* Katie Mae Pettway 

* Loraine Pettway 

* Mary Margaret Pettway

* Mensie L. Pettway 

* Quinnie Pettway 

* Stella Pettway 

* Tinnie Pettway 

* JoeAnn Pettway-West 

* Andrea Pettway Williams 

* Caroline Williams 

* Jemica Williams 

* Sharon Pettway Williams 

Assembly: Contemporary Gee’s Bend Quilts is curated by Paul Barrett. Margaret Splane is the organizing curator. 

The curators would like to thank Claudia Pettway Charley, Sew Gee’s Bend Heritage Builders, Bessie Miller, Carrie Campbell, and the Friends Foundation of the Birmingham Public Library for their invaluable support of this exhibition. This exhibition has been made possible, in part, by grants from the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. 

To read more about Gee’s Bend and its quilters, please click on the following links…

From slavery to national fame: The Gee's Bend Quilts that changed modern arts

https://www.al.com/life/2023/12/from-slavery-to-national-fame-the-gees-bend-quilts-that-changed-modern-art.html 

Gee's Bend at Target: Store launches line of clothing, home goods linked to quilters

https://www.al.com/life/2024/01/gees-bend-at-target-store-launches-line-of-clothing-home-goods-linked-to-quilters.html

Gee’s Bend Quilts

 

Assembly: Contemporary Gee's Bend Quilts is kicking off the Birmingham Public Library's Art for Everyone program, a series of art exhibitions slated to take place at Central Library this year. Assembly is currently on view in the Fourth Floor Gallery at the Central Library through February 22, 2024. 

For generations, women from the rural Black community of Boykin, Alabama (more commonly known as "Gee's Bend"), created critically acclaimed quilts from recycled work clothes and dresses, feed sacks, and fabric remnants. This exhibition features 30 quilts dating from 1975 to 2023 by 23 contemporary Gee's Bend artists who continue that tradition.

Featured Artists

* Loretta Pettway Bennett 

* Priscilla Hudson 

* Marlene Bennett Jones 

* Lue Ida McCloud 

* Polly Mooney Middleton 

* Sally Pettway Mixon 

* Cathy Mooney 

* Doris Pettway Mosely 

* Caster Pettway 

* Edwina Pettway 

* Emma Mooney Pettway 

* Katie Mae Pettway 

* Loraine Pettway 

* Mary Margaret Pettway

* Mensie L. Pettway 

* Quinnie Pettway 

* Stella Pettway 

* Tinnie Pettway 

* JoeAnn Pettway-West 

* Andrea Pettway Williams 

* Caroline Williams 

* Jemica Williams 

* Sharon Pettway Williams 

Assembly: Contemporary Gee’s Bend Quilts is curated by Paul Barrett. Margaret Splane is the organizing curator. 

The curators would like to thank Claudia Pettway Charley, Sew Gee’s Bend Heritage Builders, Bessie Miller, Carrie Campbell, and the Friends Foundation of the Birmingham Public Library for their invaluable support of this exhibition. This exhibition has been made possible, in part, by grants from the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. 

To read more about Gee’s Bend and its quilters, please click on the following links…

From slavery to national fame: The Gee's Bend Quilts that changed modern arts

https://www.al.com/life/2023/12/from-slavery-to-national-fame-the-gees-bend-quilts-that-changed-modern-art.html 

Gee's Bend at Target: Store launches line of clothing, home goods linked to quilters

https://www.al.com/life/2024/01/gees-bend-at-target-store-launches-line-of-clothing-home-goods-linked-to-quilters.html

Black History Month @ BPL

 

Over 80 programs happening across 16 BPL library branch locations this February. 

Celebrate Black History Month at the Birmingham Public Library this year with a variety of programs, like film screenings and art programs—including an art exhibition of contemporary Gee's Bend quilts!

This year's theme for Black History Month is African Americans and the Arts.

Links:

• List of all programs arranged in alphabetical order by library branch
• BPL Calendar 

21st Annual Memorial Lecture

 

Remember With Jefferson County Memorial Project: Reckoning With The Jim Crow South

Join JCMP Director, Gina Mallisham for a curative examination into Jefferson County's past and the efforts of many to memorialize our victims of racial terror violence.

More than 33 people were lynched in Jefferson County between 1883 and 1940, victims of racial terror in the segregated, postwar South. This was allowed by a national system of terror and oppression that local governments, the press, religious institutions, and businesses were complicit in upholding. These residents lived through slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the rise of Jim Crow. But their stories have mostly been lost. As we observe this societal movement to further civil and human rights, we invite you to remember them. 

As part of the celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, each January the Birmingham Public Library Archives Department sponsors Begin the Day: The Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Lecture. Now in its twenty-first year, the King Lecture has featured civil rights activists, scholars, children’s book authors, and community leaders discussing civil rights history and contemporary human rights issues including immigrant rights, voting rights, human trafficking, and Islamophobia. 

When: January 13, 2024, 11 A.M. - 1:00 P.M.
Where: Central Library, 2100 Park Place

What: Begin the Day: The Twenty-first Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Lecture

Details: Free and open to the public. 

Holiday Events

Happy holidays from BPL! Our libraries across the city are hosting programs celebrating community and the holidays for our annual Holiday Happenings.

We have 86 programs happening all throughout December, including some free-to-shop pop up stores and many celebrations! 

Multiple Holiday Happenings 2023 Viewing Options:

Blog List of Events

BPL Website Calendar of Seasonal Events

Online Magazine Format 

Online Magazine Format

Calling All Crafters

 

Craftsy offers classes beyond what you might think of as traditional craft making. There are classes for quilting, sewing, embroidery, knitting, crocheting, weaving and spinning, cake decorating, baking, cooking, drawing, painting, photography, paper crafting, jewelry making, home décor, gardening, woodworking, writing, fitness, and yoga. Pick something that you are interested in creating or a skill you want to brush up on and Craftsy videos will help guide you step-by-step. Most classes also offer downloadable resources and are instructional videos led by experts, so you can stop/pause/fast forward/rewind at your convenience. Find over 150 classes in Spanish including painting, sewing, baking, drawing, and more with new classes being added every month.

How to access:

1. Go to Libby/Overdrive: https://libbyapp.com/library/jclc

2. Click on the Sign In With My Card, choose Birmingham Public Library, and add your library card number..

3. Scroll down to the Extras Category (located on the right side of the page) and select Extras.

4. Choose Craftsy and select the 7-day pass access.

5. Start crafting.

Availability

Requires a JCLC card and residence in Birmingham, AL.