The landmark exhibition brought together over 100 quilts to trace Black cultural heritage and the westward movement.
Sherry Ann Byrd and Irene Bankhead’s 1990 quilt made in Oakland is part of the BAMPFA ‘Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California’ exhibition. Courtesy of BAMPFA.
From June 8 through November 30, 2025, the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) presented ‘Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California’, the first major museum survey to examine African American quiltmaking traditions about Black migration histories on the West Coast. Featuring more than 100 quilts by approximately 80 artists, the exhibition marked the most expansive presentation to date from a transformative 2019 bequest of African American quilts that now forms the world’s most extensive collection of its kind.
The exhibition offered a historic and cultural lens on the Second Great Migration (c. 1940–1970), during which millions of African Americans moved from the South in search of economic opportunity and greater freedom. Many of those who settled in California brought with them a rich heritage of quiltmaking—traditions that flourished anew in their adopted communities. ‘Routed West’ featured quilts made in the South before 1950, as well as works produced in California during the postwar era, together revealing the medium’s profound capacity to preserve ancestral memory, sustain spiritual bonds, and express intergenerational care and resilience.
Drawn primarily from the Eli Leon bequest, the exhibition highlighted the life’s work of the late Oakland-based collector and self-taught quilt scholar. Leon spent more than three decades assembling his archive, championing under-recognised artists such as National Heritage Fellows Gussie Wells and Laverne Brackens, and elevating the work of Rosie Lee Tompkins, who was the subject of a celebrated BAMPFA retrospective in 2020. Upon his passing in 2018, Leon quietly left the entirety of his collection—nearly 3,000 quilts and additional textiles—to BAMPFA. This bequest now comprises almost one-fifth of the museum’s total holdings.
Since receiving the collection, BAMPFA launched a major curatorial initiative to research, conserve, and share these works with the public. The project has been led by Dr. Elaine Y. Yau, an art historian specialising in folk and modern art, who was appointed to a dedicated curatorial role in 2020 and now serves as Associate Curator and Academic Liaison. Yau curated ‘Routed West’ in collaboration with Curatorial Associate Matthew Villar Miranda.
Through extensive research and community engagement, Yau and Miranda worked to trace the provenance of the quilts and establish connections with the artists and their families. This work helped illuminate the quilts not only as personal and artistic expressions but also as objects of cultural heritage—sites of affirmation, healing, and continuity within African American life. Nearly all the artists featured in the show were Black women whose contributions have historically been marginalised in mainstream American art history.
As a complement to the historical narrative, the final section of the exhibition featured contemporary quilts by Bay Area artists, including members of the African American Quilt Guild of Oakland. Also on view were works by artist William Rhodes and archival materials from California quilt guilds, showcasing how quiltmaking traditions continue to evolve and thrive in the twenty-first century.
A fully illustrated exhibition catalogue—the first scholarly publication dedicated to African American quiltmaking in California—was published alongside ‘Routed West’. Co-published by Delmonico | D.A.P., the volume included essays by Yau, Wendy Thompson, Daphne Brooks, Basil Kincaid, Adia Millett, and a roundtable with Sharbreon Plummer, Carolyn Mazloomi, and A’donna Richardson. Unpublished writings by Eli Leon and a concluding essay by Bridget R. Cooks further contextualised the historical and institutional significance of the collection.
BAMPFA also presented a robust slate of public programs during the exhibition’s run, including panel discussions, performances, and events in partnership with the African American Quilt Documentation Study Group.
“With Routed West, we activated the extraordinary collection of African American quilts at BAMPFA to honour the stories of the individuals and communities whose vibrant artistic traditions are indispensable to—but too often omitted from—the larger narrative of American art history,” said Yau. “These magnificent quilts carried stories of resilience, creativity, and intergenerational strength.”
Executive Director Julie Rodrigues Widholm added, “We were excited to build on the success of the Rosie Lee Tompkins exhibition and bring more of this unique collection into public view. Quilts have profound personal and cultural resonance, and this exhibition offered a powerful platform for connection.”
The exhibition is on view until November 30, 2025. For more information, please visit the BAMPFA website.
