A BIG Doll Find at a Quilt Show in Prince George's County, MD

This is the giant doll I witness at the entrance of the quilt exhibit.

This weekend I while attending the celebration the Grand Opening of the Gateway Arts Center, I happened upon a wonderful exhibition of the Uhuru Quilters Guild of Prince George's County entitled "Freedom: Contemporary African American Quilt Art." This exhibition tool place at the Prince George's African American Museum and Cultural Center's Gallery 110.

According to the website for the Prince George's African American Museum and Cultural Center:

"Freedom: Contemporary African American Quilt Art" aims to capture the dynamic creative energy that fuels the Prince George’s County-based Uhuru Quilters Guild. It is a vivid snapshot of continuity and change. Some quilts evoke the style of past eras, while others are explicitly contemporary. Diverse techniques have been joined together in an array of colors and fabrics to create a single, yet multi-voiced statement about an often-overlooked African American art form. Each stitch helps to preserve and perpetuate an important cultural and visual tradition."

Now, I had no idea that this exhibition was there and was happy to view the beautiful quilt work of the artists.

Outside the entrance to the gallery I beheld one of the most magnificent art dolls I had ever seen. I had to take a photo of it to document my find!

The exhibit, "Freedom: Contemporary African American Quilt Art" will be showing at Gallery 110 through May 15th.

Highlights of the La Femme Exhibition, March 20th, Vivant Collection, Philadelphia, PA

Moi with Barbara Whiteman of the Philadelphia Doll Museum
Moi with one of my newest mixed media collectors!
Florcy Morisset, Director and Owner of Vivant Collection



What a beautiful Saturday evening it was for the curated La Femme Mystique, A Tribute to Women's History Month exhibition, at The Vivant Art Collection in Philadelphia's gallery row!

The Special Artist Reception was yesterday! I truly enjoyed meeting and talking to the many wonderful artists and guests who attended. I also equally enjoyed the artist talk featuring all of the outstanding women artists in the show!

Among the guests at the show: Pamela Brown and Beverly Dawson owners of the nationally known African American gallery, Art Jazz and Barbara Whiteman, Director of the famous Philadelphia Doll Museum.

The evening was filled with wonderful music, food, and lively discussion about African American women and their artwork.

The art in this show reflects my personal journey as African American artist. In particular my observation, exploration and daily reflection on metaphysics, spirituality, race relations, gender, and African American folk traditions and how these factors influence the views of society.

The show is currently showing through March 30th. For more information contact the gallery at 215.922.6584

Create Everyday: Transformational Doll In Progress

Hi just fooling around in the studio today. Earlier in the year I took Pamela Hastings Transformational Doll Making Class. I am sad to say that I just started trying the exercises since I was too busy with my design business to do so earlier this year. One of them was the pattern for the doll you see here. I call her Evolving. I just read a post from Erykah Badu one of my beloved singers, today on Twitter which she simply states this word.

I took the word and I am in the process of creating this transformational doll to illustrate the evolution of life, changes that each of us are going through or have gone through, as mothers, lovers, friends and daughters.

I am planning on embellishing more on this and make it a personal doll for me, not for sale.

Artist Sherry Ways Participates in La Femme Mystique: A Tribute To Women's History Month

Hi I am one of four artists participating in the curated La Femme Mystique, A Tribute to Women's History Month exhibition, March 5-30, 2010 at The Vivant Collection in Philadelphia's gallery row!

If you could define femininity, what would it mean? What would it look like? How would it feel? Vivant Art Collection presents a unique and intimate portrait of the hearts and souls of women. It's the allure that combines the mind, body and spirit and capturing the essence...La Femme Mystique curated by Gallery Assistant Simone E. Banks.

This exhibition is an exploration of the femininity that exists in the "everyday" women. Experiencing the power womanhood, can only be achieved by exploring yourself and engaging in mystique... Take a journey with our featured artists. La Femme Mystique opens March 5, 2010 at Vivant Art Collection, 60 N. 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA. Join us for a Special Artist Reception is scheduled March 20th - 4pm - 7pm! Meet the artist and enjoy a gallery tour by the artist as we look into each piece further.

The art in this show reflects my personal journey as African American artist. In particular my observation, exploration and daily reflection on metaphysics, spirituality, race relations, gender, and African American folk traditions and how these factors influence the views of society.

Other artists in the show include:


Nadine Lafond. Nadine Lafond is a painter and mixed media artist who works on paper, canvas, wood and found objects, creating images that explore journey and dimension through the layering of symbols. Relying on cues from Nature and personal experiences, her work layers the bird's eye view and the eye to eyeLichiban encounter at once.


Lichiban is situated at the intersection of pop surrealism and fantasy art... exploring & defying her fascination with borders, limits and ambiguous dividing lines. She is a Hungarian born, Brooklyn-based self-taught visual artist, illustrator, art director, curator, and full time creative hustler.

Madame C. J. Walker Frances Bradley is not only an artist she is a humanitarian and an activist. Her strong passion for change in the community has fueled her passion to dedicate herself to forming "The Murals for Mali Project." The mission of the organization is to rally artists and visionaries to work as a collective to teach art and social awareness to the youth in Mali.

Philece Roberts is an artist at heart and a designer by trade, musically inspired and culturally stimulated. Her art is a freedom of expression, in which she finds the meaning of life's truths and understanding through her growth and revelations. It is in the essence of her work that she defines herself as a woman and her pieces bring to life, her eternal love affair with art.

Nataki Mcneal Bhatti is an African aesthetic and revolutionary artist, who has created her own interpretative language, style and technique. She is in an exploratory stage in which each work comes from different tangent degrees separate from the others. The one common thread in her paintings is the use of chroma and natural inclinations which authenticates her Accapella voice.

Vivant Art Collection is a cultural arts gallery located in Old City, Philadelphia. Vivant features art from Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America Diaspora, specializing in Haitian art, masks and ceramics, which are all as vibrant, rich and bold. The mission of Vivant is to entertain, enlighten and empower through the arts, building a bridge between the art world and the community.

March 3rd, DC Arts Advocacy Day Participate!

If you are an artist living and working in the District of Columbia- Washington, DC, please read the following from Rob Bettmann, Chair DC Advocates for the Arts:

"This Wednesday teams of arts leaders will visit policy-makers' offices as part of DC's Arts Advocacy Day. In addition to taking meetings, we want to flood the city council and mayor’s office with the message: if you support the arts, you have my vote.

On March 3rd please take a minute to email and/or call your legislators for the arts, and before the day, please forward this to your personal networks, employees, etc. Here is what you might say in an email, or phone call:

Hello. I’m calling for (policymaker name). My name is _________ and I am calling to urge you to maintain arts funding in the FY 11 budget.

Dedicated arts support was cut by 53% from FY 09 to FY 10. I know that tough choices have to be made, but those cuts resulted in lost jobs, lost tax revenue, and lost services for residents. The arts stimulate economic development and support community jobs.

I work/volunteer/have kids at/know people at [insert your example here] and have seen how arts education provides students with the confidence and focus they need to make it through school and go on to college. [THIS IS ALL JUST EXAMPLE -- FEEL FREE TO USE YOUR OWN LANGUAGE AND IDEAS. THE IMPORTANT THING IS TO LET THEM KNOW:] I want you to know that if you support the arts you have my vote.

Thank you for your time. Sincerely,

(Your name)

PLEASE PASS THIS ALONG TO YOUR FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES AND REMIND THEM TO MAKE A CALL AND SEND AN EMAIL ON MARCH 3rd.

Here is contact information for our local elected officials:

Mayor Adrian Fenty
mayor@dc.gov Tel: (202) 727-6300

Vincent C. Gray, Council Chairman
vgray@dccouncil.us, Tel: (202) 724-8032

David A. Catania, Councilmember (At-Large)
dcatania@dccouncil.us, Tel: (202) 724-7772

Phil Mendelson, Councilmember (At-Large)
pmendelson@dccouncil.us, Tel: (202) 724-8064

Kwame R. Brown, Councilmember (At-Large)*
kbrown@dccouncil.us, Tel: (202) 724-8174

Michael A. Brown, Councilmember (At-Large)
mbrown@dccouncil.us, Tel: (202) 724-8105

Jim Graham, Councilmember (Ward 1)
jgraham@dccouncil.us, Tel: (202) 724-8181

Jack Evans, Councilmember (Ward 2)*
jackevans@dccouncil.us, Tel: (202) 724-8058

Mary M. Cheh, Councilmember (Ward 3)
mcheh@dccouncil.us, Tel: (202) 724-8062

Muriel Bowser, Councilmember (Ward 4)*
mbowser@dccouncil.us, Tel: (202) 724-8052

Harry Thomas, Jr., Councilmember (Ward 5)
hthomas@dccouncil.us, Tel: (202) 724-8028

Tommy Wells, Councilmember (Ward 6)
twells@dccouncil.us, Tel: (202) 724-8072

Yvette M. Alexander, Councilmember (Ward 7)
yalexander@dccouncil.us, Tel: (202) 724-8068

Marion Barry, Councilmember (Ward 8)*
mbarry@dccouncil.us, Tel: (202) 724-8045

• Denotes member of Economic Development Committee, the Council Committee that oversees the District’s arts agency.

For more information on local arts advocacy, please visit:

http://www.dcadvocatesforthearts.org