Norma Bradley: Community Quilt Project

The Community Quilt Project by Norma Bradley, an artist based in Asheville, North Carolina, whose earth quilts with school children and community members are an expression of their identities and concerns. Bradley's first quilt project arose when she was trying to defeat government plans to use part of her mountain community, Sandy Mush, for a nuclear waste dump. She and community members created an earth quilt depicting the things they would miss most if they had to leave. "The theme of the work is the mountains," said the Hickory Ridge Museum's Curt Smalling of their earth quilt at Horn of the West. "It has real meaning for me and for the people in the area. The piece reflects our environment and that's what art is supposed to do." Pictured, top: "Vessel of Hope," with residents of Eliada Homes for Youth at Risk, Asheville, lower: "Towering Spirits," with the NC School for the Deaf in Morganton.

This story appeared in High Performance #75, Spring 1997

Original CAN/API publication: December 1999