- 5 PM – Doors Open, Cash Bar Available
- 5:45 PM – Close-Looking Tour of the Of Salt and Spirit Exhibition
- 6:30 PM – Join a panel discussion moderated by Jasmine Williams, exploring Black material culture, the artistic process, textiles as a tool, and the importance of creating spaces to share textile artmaking across generations. Featuring:
- Stephany Brown, Artist and Creator of Big Mama’s Quilting Circle
- Monica Hill
- Ravin Lovett, Artist and Art Therapist
- 7:30 PM – Enjoy gallery performances by JT Thomas, Sade, and Bleu Jean.
About the Panel
Ravin Lovett grew up in a family of Quilters dating back five generations to her Great-Great Grandmother Isabella Griffin, who was born into slavery, Ravin
J. Hill is honored to continue the legacy. With a unique eye for design, Ravin regularly creates personal and commissioned “storyteller quilts” filled with vibrant colors and bold shapes. Ravin has been quilting professionally since 2000 after circumstances forced her to revisit a quilt that she and Big Mama (Lueberta Hawkins, her Grandmother) began in 1994, but were unable to complete. Ravin soon discovered her artistic abilities and graduated Cum Laude with a B. A. in English and Art Education from Tougaloo College in May of 2004. She later pursued and received her Master’s degree in Art Education with an emphasis in Art Therapy from Florida State University in 2006. In 2022, Ravin graduated from Belhaven University with a Master’s of Arts in Biblical and Theological Studies.
As an Artist and Art Therapist, Ravin aspires to share her skills, knowledge, and gift, of quilt making with others. Art Therapy is a human-helping profession that services all populations, with mental, physical, emotional, and psychological health issues. It is her goal to share her experiences through quilt making to help those that are in need, achieve holistic health. In doing so, she will honor the legacy of her grandmother.
Stephany Brown had a 40-year career spent educating kindergarten, third, and fourth graders before working as one of MMA’s Museum Guides, leading
tours for the public, and is active on the Mississippi Artist Commission’s Artist Roster. On the third Sunday of every month, she teaches Big Mama’s Quilting Circle at the Briarwood Arts Center. She formed this group as a way to pass on her love for the handstitched quilting traditions that she originally learned from her Big Mama—Loreda Baker, her husband’s grandmother—when they got married.
Citing inspiration from recent exhibitions at MMA such as Bearden/Picasso: Rhythms and Reverberations and upon discovering Elizabeth T. Scott’s work, Brown has expanded her practice to include more abstract forms and many more embellishments. Stephany Brown has a deep reverence for the traditions of quilt making, and she spends a lot of her time reading about the processes of quilters who came before her. She works exclusively by hand sewing, typically spending upwards of 12 to 18 months on each of her quilts. While placing each stitch, the artist also meditates on her hopes and wishes for the receiver of the quilt, sending that energy into the quilt. Each of her creations is passed on to a loved one to serve as a functional quilt—something to keep them warm at night, or to comfort them during hardships.
For Brown, quilts tell stories. She says, “The quilt speaks to hand quilters to explain what we need to do to it. We narrate the story of the quilt and our culture through the patterns and stitches.”
