Photos by Shanee Frazier
Bisa Butler explains to the audience the inspiration behind her piece ‘Angels Will Sing for Her.’
By Shanee Frazier, Staff Writer
SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Local residents received a unique perspective on the art of quilt-making on the night of March 12 as South Orange native Bisa Butler presented her fabric works in a stunning display of photos and actual pieces.
Butler’s presentation was the second in a collaboration of the Marshood Family Foundation and the South Orange-Maplewood Adult School to celebrate artists and their work, and it took place in the library of Columbia High School.
Neil and Miriam Marshood, who have been Maplewood residents for 25 years, expressed to the event’s attendees their great love for the arts, stating that it is “the gateway to innovation and creativity.”
During the day, Butler also had the opportunity to speak with a few classes of art students at CHS, some of whom came back in the evening for her formal presentation, which featured a slide show of past and current works, plus some of her pieces that she brought in to present to the audience.
One of the pieces on display to the audience was Butler’s interpretation of her grandparents’ wedding picture, aptly titled “Frances and Violet.” This quilt used portions of her grandmother’s fabric, as well as an African print in her grandfather’s clothing that foreshadows his eventual career as a U.S. emissary to Morocco.
This same attention to detail and context is present in all of Butler’s artwork, something that she says is part of her creative process.
“I’m always interested in the unknown and the forgotten,” Butler said at the event. “I’m always trying to add to the piece and bring it life.”
Butler explained that her pieces always begin as a sketch, and then she selects different colors and textures of fabrics based on what she is feeling.
“It becomes a conversation between me as the artist and the subject, and you as the audience,” she told the audience.
Butler, who is a 1991 graduate of Columbia High School, swiftly cites art teachers such as Larry McKim and Arthur Struthers as being influential both in school and afterward.
“I always loved art and took AP Art while at Columbia,” Butler told the News-Record in a March 11 phone interview. “When I went to college I decided to major in art, but I wasn’t sure what medium was right for me.”
Butler started in the architecture program at Howard University in Washington, D.C., but soon switched to the arts where she excelled in her classes, eventually graduating with honors and obtaining a degree in fine arts.
“I stuck with painting because, at the time, I thought that’s what a degree in art meant you had to do,” she said. “But even my teachers would comment that the distinctive clothes and jewelry I would wear around campus didn’t match the artwork I was producing. It was good, but it wasn’t inspired.”
While pregnant with her daughter, Butler was unable to tolerate the smell of paint, and later on she found herself unable to keep her curious toddler out of the harsh chemicals; she decided to stop painting altogether.
Not wanting to give up art entirely and also needing a career that would allow her the flexibility to raise her family, Butler decided to become an art teacher and went to Montclair State University for her education degree.
Although she was already making and selling clothes, it was in a fiber-arts class at Montclair State that Butler discovered her true artistic calling.
“There was a big push in the ’70s for women-centered art,” Butler told the News-Record. “I decided to make a quilt for my grandmother. I carded my own wool, boiled onion skin to make natural yellow dye, etc. I decided to make a portrait out of her quilt, and I knew it was something special.”
Butler’s first quilt used fabric with purple flowers created by her grandmother and was a tribute to her grandmother Violet, who lived during the Great Depression and left a plethora of different fabrics to Butler.
“My sewing background connected with my art background, and also me wanting to connect everything mentally, spiritually, etc.,” Butler said. “It all just came together and it was clear that there was something special.”
After the October Gallery in Philadelphia invited her to exhibit at its gallery and all three of her displayed pieces sold, Butler realized she had found her niche in the art world.
“When you see the quilts, you’re looking at something that connects to the American and African-American culture,” Butler said. “They remind you of home, of comfort. You also think of people who were loving and nurturing, but they also have a new twist on them.”
Butler’s work is also featured as part of the Bernard and Shirley Kinsey Collection at the Smithsonian American History Museum in the African American gallery. Butler also has 30 of her pieces from the Kinsey Collection displayed at Epcot Center, where her artwork is hanging in the American House.
The Atrium Gallery in Morristown, as well as the Arkansas Museum and the Louis Armstrong House Museum, have pieces of Butler’s work, and she has exhibited at the Emperor’s Palace in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Perhaps one of Butler’s most memorable experiences as a professional artist was when she had the opportunity to speak to a group of young adults as part of a workshop during the Disney Dreamers Academy at Disney World in 2013.
The Disney Dreamers Academy is a program run in partnership between the Steve Harvey Foundation and Disney World and gives underprivileged children an opportunity to have an all-expenses paid trip to Disney World where they learn about the different careers available with Disney, some of which are non-traditional.
Butler spoke to the group about what it is like to be a professional quilter and what they might expect as a professional artist if that were something they wanted to pursue.
“I told them that they can do anything they dream,” Butler said. “I’m living proof of that.”
Bisa Butler can be found on Facebook and Instagram as “Bisa Butler,” and also at bisabutler.blogspot.com.