Upcoming Zoom Registration:
June 10th, 6pm PDT
Register here

Generously the Estate of Eli Leon and BAMPFA made available fabric scraps “to seed new work and continue to foreground contemporary Black artists working in textiles.” Ramekon O’Arwisters, along with 3 other artists are among the first chosen to receive sundry textiles from the Estate for use in the development of new work.

Eli Leon was an Oakland California collector whose trove of African American quilts was gifted to the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, BAMPFA. Included in Leon’s Collection are works by Laverne Brackens, Gladys Henry, and more than 500 works by the artist Rosie Lee Tompkins, whom Leon met in 1985 and championed for the rest of his life.

In his New York Times obituary, Roberta Smith describes Eli Leon, who died in 2018, as “an obsessive collector—or, perhaps more accurately, a highly discriminating hoarder,” who packed his home in Oakland to the gills with treasures, including some 30 meat grinders, knick-knacks, and, of course, an unparalleled trove of handmade quilts.

The gifted textiles carry the weight of history, tradition and passion. Can’t imagine the fabric in better hands than Ramekon O’Arwisters, Angela Hennessy, Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo and Olaitan Callender-Scott.

Upcoming Zoom Registration:
June 10th, 6pm PDT
https://bampfa.org/event/estate-eli-leon-textile-improvisations