William Rhodes standing next to the Knotted Community quilt. Seniors and Youth helped to create this quilt.

William Rhodes

African-American quilt-making

William Rhodes is a mixed-media artist who blends fine art, craft, and design, infusing each piece with meaning and function. His artistic journey has been driven by a thirst for learning, leading him to explore diverse cultures and artistic disciplines. This exploration has allowed him to integrate non-Western methods into sculpture, furniture, and art. His recent endeavors in quilting are an extension of his commitment to storytelling, particularly focused on preserving the local African American history of San Francisco.

Website


Living Cultures Grant Program

2024

Threads of Resilience: The San Francisco Black Heritage Quilt

Funding will support Threads of Resilience, a project that engages Black seniors in quilt-making and oral history recordings to document the stories of San Francisco’s Black community. The resulting quilt will serve as a living testament to Black San Francisco from the 1940s to the 1980s—a formative era in the city’s cultural history.

Geri Hill showing us her fabric squares she will be adding to the community quilt. Photo courtesy of the artist.
A participant adding her fabric square the the knotted quilt. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Narrative Quilt by William Rhodes. Photo courtesy of the artist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Alliance for California Traditional Arts
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