Peace The Way Home
Maker
Val Gray Ward
Date1972-2024
MediumQuilted cotton and assorted fabric
Dimensions274.3 x 274.3 cm (108 x 108 in.)
Credit LineOn loan from the Estate of Val Gray Ward
Object numberLOAN.2024.4.1
On View
On viewLabel TextVal Gray Ward's quilted memoir, Peace The Way Home, reflects over 50 years of her personal life, activism, and theatrical career. The title plays on the Black Southern Phrase "piece the way home," but Ward altered "piece" to "peace" to encompass her philosophy and activism.
Ward dedicated the quilt to her childhood friend, Gwendolyn Brooks, the first Black Pulitzer Prize winner. When encouraged by Brooks to write a memoir, Ward chose instead to weaver her life into a quilt, incorporating names, photos, mementos, and textiles from influential people like Sammy Davis Jr., Maya Angelou, and Sonia Sanchez. The quilt also includes fabrics from Nikki Giovanni's grandmother, Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, and many others, creating a tapestry of Pan-African consciousness. At the quilt's center is the emblem of FESTAC '77, a festival held in Nigeria where Ward's Kuumba Theatre represented the U.S. The quilt symbolizes both a journey home and a celebration of Black heritage and global connections.
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