When I talk about the Quilters of Gee's Bend, Alabama, I tend to talk in rhapsodic terms. Seeing the original museum exhibition of the quilts was an emotional experience that I draw on to remind myself that I am allowed to have genuine feelings, not just rushes of awe when somebody uses napalm for woodburning or knits bedroom slippers out of the Pope's belly-button lint. Seeing the original quilts made out of old work clothes and mattress ticking reduced me to a quivering man-wreck.
Not that I'm ignorant of the machinations behind the scenes. In his brilliant book The Last Folk Hero, Andrew Dietz chronicled Bill Arnett, the P.T. Barnum figure that brought the quilts to the art world. Arnett comes across as a well-meaning scumbag...the kind of person that is passionate about their work, yet completely unable to avoid turf wars, conflicts of interest and most of all...biting the hand that feeds him. Arnett was the subject of a 60 Minutes expose in 1993 that accused him of exploiting ignorant folk artists and hoodwinking the art world.
Most of those bad feelings were left behind when Arnett swooped into Gee's Bend, Alabama, which is one of the poorest cities in the country, and plucked the women of the community out of obscurity, rightfully giving their quilts a place in the pantheon of fine art. With the involvement of Jane Fonda and artists in his stable like Lonnie Holly, Arnett whipped up a firestorm of attention that brought financial stability to Gee's Bend. A foundation was even created for the community's benefit that licensed Gee's Bend art for placement on knick-knacks and in books.
As any lottery winner knows, money changes everything. Now the community center's windows are covered in burglar bars to protect the multi-thousand dollar quilts inside. The fellowship that comes from townspeople helping each other to survive has eroded, and has been replaced by wariness--if not outright suspicion. As with anything involving Bill Arnett, the gray area between what is benevolent and what is exploitative is as fuzzy as ever.
Quilter Annie Mae Young, who created some of the most iconic works to come out of Gee's Bend, filed a lawsuit last week aimed at Bill Arnett and his sons. The lawsuit alleges that Arnett licensed her quilts and image without her permission, defrauding her out of untold amounts of money. The lawsuit has created a huge rift in the small town, pitting Young against other quilters who view Arnett as a savior. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution just published an article about the case:
"But even those who support the Arnetts, and greet Matt like they would a son or brother, do so with some regrets over their business decisions. Maybe, they say, they've trusted too much. Their votes on business deals presented by the Arnetts have been oral and unanimous, but not recorded.
Mary Lee Bendolph, 71, says she wishes the Arnetts had told her and others about the possibility of a lawsuit. "I didn't think we would need a lawyer," she said. "We all make mistakes doing things without thinking.
"[The Arnetts] gave us a good start but we didn't do enough to help ourselves," said Nettie Young, 90. "We didn't ask enough questions."
Many Gee's Benders feel indebted to the Arnetts. They are grateful for money that paid their bills and helped their kids go to college.
Quilting fame brought respect and praise from a world they never imagined would care about them, their work, their history.
"Remembering my great-grandmother means more than anything, the stories she told and having her quilt hung on the wall in a museum and I can say, that's my community and this is where I came from," said Louisiana Bendolph."
It is a pity (but probably inevitable) that it has come to this. As usual, Arnett has climbed on his self-righteous soapbox and declared that without him, the women would still be toiling in obscurity. Arnett also claims that he has received little or no profit from the Gee's Bend quilts, which is rather hard to believe. Young's lawsuit will doubtlessly be followed by others, opening up a shameful coda to what would otherwise be Hallmark Movie-of-the-week uplifting. One can hardly blame the quiltmakers for demanding transparency and accountability from Bill Arnett, but I think everybody can share my disappointment that it has come to this.
