The Westport Library is hosting a multi-gallery quilting exhibition this winter that uses fabric, pattern and shared history to explore how storytelling connects communities across generations and geography.
Building Bridges Through Storytelling is now on view through March 17, 2026, spanning the library’s Sheffer, South and Jesup galleries. The exhibition brings together three interconnected quilt installations created by the Southern Connecticut Modern Quilt Guild and quilters with roots in the historic Gee’s Bend quilting tradition.
In the Sheffer Gallery, members of the Southern Connecticut Modern Quilt Guild present original works inspired by personal and collective narratives, reflecting experiences ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic to everyday resilience. The quilts highlight modern quilting as both an artistic practice and a storytelling medium.
A reception and artist talk will be held Thursday, Jan. 15, from 6 to 8 p.m., with remarks beginning at 7 p.m. Westport artist Miggs Burroughs will join a panel of featured quilters to discuss the exhibition and its themes.
Founded more than a decade ago, the Southern Connecticut Modern Quilt Guild focuses on advancing modern quilting through education, exhibitions and community engagement. The group also donates quilts and pillowcases to local nonprofits, including Homes with Hope, Susie’s House and Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.
The South Gallery features A Traveling Legacy: From Gee’s Bend to the Nutmeg State, which traces the migration of Gee’s Bend quilting traditions from Alabama to Connecticut. The exhibit grew out of a 2023 presentation by author and educator Tangular Irby, who shared her family’s quilting heritage rooted in Gee’s Bend and its continuation in Bridgeport.
“While our footprints may fade, our stories can live on,” Irby said.
The exhibit showcases quilts by Gee’s Bend descendants now living in Connecticut, connecting their work to the legacy of Dinah Miller, one of the earliest documented Gee’s Bend quilters. The designs echo traditional Benin weaving patterns, linking African, Southern and New England histories.
A community reception and talk with Irby, Eula Pettway and Sandra Juliet Pettway is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 31, from 1 to 3 p.m. A quilt sale will take place the same day from noon to 5 p.m.
The exhibition’s centerpiece is displayed in the Jesup Gallery: a collaborative quilt titled Building Bridges, created by members of the Southern Connecticut Modern Quilt Guild, Bridgeport’s Gee’s Bend community and quilters from Gee’s Bend, Alabama. The quilt will be gifted to The Westport Library’s permanent art collection during the Jan. 15 event.
Library officials said the exhibition reflects the power of art to preserve heritage while creating new narratives rooted in shared experience.
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