Tina Williams Brewer is an American quilting artist, recognized for story quilts about African American history. Brewer was born in

Huntington, West Virginia Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Cabell County, and the largest city in the Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area, sometimes referred to as the Tri-State Area. A h ...

. She graduated from the Columbus College of Art and Design. Brewer started in interior design and pottery, but moved to quilting in 1986, feeling it was more compatible with motherhood. She is currently based in Pittsburgh, PA and has served on the boards of the

Associated Artists of Pittsburgh Associated Artists of Pittsburgh (AAP) is the oldest, and largest nonprofit visual arts membership organization in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States and the oldest continuously exhibiting visual arts organization in America. History Associat ...

and Pittsburgh Filmmakers/Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.

Career

Brewers weaves symbolism into her works to tell stories focusing on issues of family, women and children, and the spirituality of the African American culture, and her personal experiences associated with them. Much of her older works focused on the

Middle Passage The Middle Passage was the stage of the Atlantic slave trade in which millions of enslaved Africans were transported to the Americas as part of the triangular slave trade. Ships departed Europe for African markets with manufactured goods (first ...

and her ancestors arriving to America on slave ships, but she also focuses on African American contributions to history and society, such as Jazz. Brewer works in artistic community outreach, using her insight to encourage others in the creative and collaborative process. She mentors aspiring artists of all ages, and has brought the quilting experience to hundreds of individuals in schools and residency programs. She volunteers and works in a number of arts guilds, and is sought after for workshops and lectures. Brewer's quilts have been featured in collections such as those of the African American Museum, Dallas, the State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, and The National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center, Wilberforce, Ohio. Her quilts have been exhibited internationally via the “Art in Embassies” program of the U.S. Department of State. Her quilts are displayed at the US Embassy in Ghana. Her work was included in that program’s exhibitions in Accra (2003), Khartoum (2009), and Dhaka (2011). Brewer describes her design process as using the concept of the mandala. Friday, June 12, 2009 was proclaimed "Tina Willilams Brewer Day" by Pittsburgh City Council.

Personal life

Brewer lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with her husband, John Brewer. She has two children, John Emery and Kristine, and four grandchildren.

Works

''The harvest'', 1989 ''Migration blues'', 1998 ''Formation'', 2002 ''Rising from the thicket'', 2014 ''#1 of this place'', 2016 ''Whirling dance and the unconscious rhythm''

Awards

* 2008 Award for Service to the Arts * 2009 Volunteer in the Arts * Lifetime Achievement Artist,

Pittsburgh Center for the Arts The Pittsburgh Center for the Arts (PCA) is a non-profit community arts campus that offers arts education programs and contemporary art exhibitions in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It also provides services and resources for artists th ...

(2009)

Exhibitions

Her work has been displayed in more than 50 major venues in the United States, some of which include: * Tampa Museum of Art and Science, Tampa, FL * Heinz Regional History Center, Pittsburgh, PA * Evansville Museum of Arts, Evansville, IN * African American Museum, Philadelphia, PA * African American Museum, Dallas, TX * Reginald Lewis Museum of African American Art in Baltimore, MD * Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, WV

References

External links

Official site

Tina Williams Brewer, Master Visual Artist
(2013 video)
''Pennsylvania Folklore: Woven Together'' - video on textile arts that profiles Tina Williams Brewer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brewer, Tina Williams Living people People from Huntington, West Virginia Artists from Pittsburgh African-American women artists Quilters Columbus College of Art and Design alumni Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women