Artist of the Month September 2008

Marion Coleman

Castro Valley, CA

Memory, family stories, cultural change and a world filled with color serve as inspiration for San Francisco Bay Area artist/counselor, Marion Coleman. For over thirty years Coleman worked in youth and family services and now she combines this experience with her art to create work that explores memory, social change and community. Coleman’s work has been exhibited in the United States and internationally. She has numerous private commissions and completed her first public art commission for Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center in 2006. She speaks frequently on the diversity of African American quilts and teaches art quilting. In December 2006 she was one of five artist’s in residence at the deYoung Museum in San Francisco. Her work has been presented in several publications including American Craft, Quilting Arts Magazine, Creative Quilting, a book on journal quilting and Textural Rhythms: Quilts in the Jazz Tradition, a book and touring quilt exhibition that opened in 2007. Coleman received a 2007 Creative Work Fund Grant to collaborate with two other quilt artists and the Bay Area Black United Fund for a project on African American health disparities. Coleman is presently working on two pieces commissioned for the new Castro Valley Library and four pictorial quilts commissioned for the City of Richmond Civic Center renovation project. She serves on the African American Advisory Council for the Oakland Museum. She is a member of Studio Art Quilt Associates, the African American Quilt Guild of Oakland and the Women of Color Quilters Network.

How and when did you start creating art?

As a youngster I was taught to sew and crochet by my grandmother. During my early years I made clothing but later began making contemporary quilts with the development of technology, particularly digital photography.

What media and genres do you work in?

Fiber, threads, stitching, paper, paint and found objects are all used in my work.

Who or what are your influences?

My work is influenced by many excellent quilt makers past and present. This includes my great aunt, Corine Miller, story quilt maker Nora Ezell and contemporary quilters Sue Carlson and Ruth McDowell. I am intrigued by the work of Chuck Close and Palmer Hayden. I am always interested in people, their stories along with past and current events.

Neighborhood Watch is part of my ongoing documentation of the African American experience from years past. The name references a time when the community was a safer place and everyone looked out for all children. The piece includes transfers of old photos and scans of old newspapers found during a home remodeling project.

Describe your creative process?

My work is both color and concept driven. I use improvisational techniques to make color quilts using domestic and international fabrics. These often use established strip piecing techniques associated with African American quilts but may include extensive stitching, paper, paint, plastic, recycled materials or just about anything that strikes my fancy. I continue to look for old photos as I explore memory, history and culture.

What are you working on currently?

I am working on four part public art project for the City of Richmond, CA and a two part series for the Alameda County Art Commission along with an ongoing portrait series about women over 50.

What are your near/long term goals as an artist?

I want to continue to develop my technique, produce an art calendar and note card series, and expand my ability to make public art.

Where can people view/purchase your work (gallery, website, etc)?

My work can be viewed and purchased at my website www.marioncoleman.com. I also have work on tour with Textural Rhythms. The schedule can be found at www.smithkramer.com.

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