SEARSPORT — Gee’s Bend quilters China Pettway, Stella Mae Pettaway, Revil Mosley and Lucy Mingo Quilts, whose non-traditional quilts have been called by the New York Times “some of the most miraculous works of modern art America has produced,” will be at Penobscot Marine Museum on Saturday, Aug. 2from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. for the opening of their exhibit “Do It Your Way”: Gee’s Bend Quilts & Quilters in Maine.  This exhibit, sponsored by Fiber College of Maine and the Emily and William Muir Community Fund of the Maine Community Foundation, will be at Penobscot Marine Museum’s Main Street Gallery, 40 East Main Street, Searsport, Aug. 2 through Sept. 7. 

The quilters of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, were catapulted into national celebrity in 1998 when an art collector saw their quilts and organized an exhibition which began at the Houston Museum of Fine Arts and travelled to nine major museums across the country including the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the Whitney Museum in New York City.  The quilts of Gee’s Bend have been written up in Newsweek, O, Smithsonian Magazine and Martha Stewart Living.  

“Do It Your Way”: Gee’s Bend Quilts & Quilters in Maine is a collaboration between Penobscot Marine Museum, Fiber College of Maine where the ladies will be teaching quilting classes Sept. 3 through Sept. 8, and Maine Fiber Arts who has an exhibit of Gee’s Bend quilts July 4 through Aug. 30. 

On the evening of Sept. 3 the First Congregational Church of Searsport will host a New England boiled dinner, and a discussion forum and gospel singing with China Pettway, Stella Mae Pettaway, Revil Mosley and Lucy Mingo.  The forum, during which two quilts will be raffled, will be moderated by Maine Center for Contemporary Art Director Suzette McAvoy. 

This event was organized by Fiber College of Maine and tickets are available through their website fibercollege.org or by calling (207) 548-6059. 

For more information call Penobscot Marine Museum at 207-548-2529.  Penobscot Marine Museum has seven new exhibits and over fifty programs and events this season.  Its three acre, ten building campus is on Route One in Searsport, Maine and is open Monday through Saturday, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, and on Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.  The museum is open through Sunday, Oct.19.

Admission is free to Searsport residents. 

Fiber College of Maine, on Route One in Searsport, Maine, is the largest fiber arts education gathering on the East Coast.  For more information call 207-548-6059.  Maine Fiberarts, 13 Main St., Topsham, Maine has fiber exhibitions, studio tours, and networking events.   For more information call 207-721-0678.