Southern White Amnesia by Zak Foster, is an examination of the family stories white Americans pass down through generations—or allow to be forgotten—about their role in slavery and its ongoing legacy. Through traditional quilting techniques subverted for contemporary discourse, the artist explores their own family history as enslavers in South Carolina and Kentucky, creating works that range from a topographic burial ground quilt to AI-enhanced video installations of ancestral portraits. Using worn textiles, traditional patterns like Sunbonnet Sue, and the symbolic language of Southern Baptist church banners, these pieces invite viewers to consider how individual histories form collective identity.The collection aims not only to expose hidden histories but to probe deeper questions about inheritance, responsibility, and repair in contemporary America. 

In juxtaposition, SQTM will also be showing Historic Family Quilts and textiles from our permanent collection. Many of these quilts were donated with partial family stories, leaving us wondering about the lives of these makers and what stories were lost to time. Sometimes genealogy research can help fill the gaps of time and place, but it is a rare treat when we get items donated with notes passed down for generations or handwritten letters or diaries from the makers themself. Some of the quilts featured in this exhibit were made as wedding presents, others were made for utilitarian everyday use. A few of these quilters include stitched signatures and dates. These quilts will be presented with their family stories, along with additional information SQTM was able to glean from historical research and the textile itself. 

Our final Gallery will feature quilts made by Young Quilters, showing off the skills of quilters under the age of 18. This space will include quilted creations from former SQTM Quilt Campers.