Members of the Gee's Bend Quilters Collective display their quilts for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., right, as he toured their workshop on Monday, April 21, 2008, in Gee's Bend, Ala.

Two of the faces behind one of Alabama’s greatest cultural treasures are bringing their art to Cullman later this month. The North Alabama Agriplex will host quilters Mary Ann Pettway and China Pettway, whose ancestors’ practically-produced, handcrafted works of art in an isolated corner of rural Alabama grew into a phenomenon when the international art world turned its gaze toward their work near the turn of the century.

The Pettways will host a pair of lectures on the famous quilts, which the Gee’s Bend Collective, managed by Mary Ann, still produces today. The first event, a two-hour Heritage Homeschool program, will introduce the quilts to local children, while the other — a session covering the Gee’s Bend Quilts and Heritage — will be aimed at adults.

Both sessions will be held Feb. 27 at the Agriplex on Tally Ho Street in Cullman. There is a $5 per-family fee for the Heritage Homeschool program (registration is required), but the adult event is free to attend and requires no prior registration. The Heritage Homeschool program runs from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., and the adult program runs from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The Gee’s Bend quilts come to Cullman thanks to a grant from the Alabama Humanities Foundation, which is providing funds to make both programs possible. The Agriplex has welcome some fascinating and crowd-attracting guests over the years, said director Rachel Dawsey, but nothing that’s drawn as much attention from the rest of the world as the Gee’s Bend quilters.

“It’s just amazing that we have this opportunity, and everyone who sees these quilts and hears their story for the first time is just blown away by it,” she said. “We wouldn’t be able to do this without the Alabama Humanities Foundation, so we’re really grateful and excited that they are helping bring such a unique Alabama treasure to share with Cullman.”

Located in Wilcox County in South Alabama’s Black Belt, the African-American community of Boykin is more commonly referred to by locals as Gee’s Bend, named for 1800s cotton plantation farmer and slave owner Joseph Gee. The community remained largely separate from the outside world through the late 20th Century, thanks to geographic isolation and a politically-charged, 44-year lapse in ferry service across the Alabama River, which local officials ended in 1962 in an attempt to curb voter access for the community’s black residents.

Working for decades without influence from the conventions employed by quilters elsewhere, the women of Gee’s Bend made their quilts from denim and other secondhand everyday fabrics that had outlived their original use. The striking color contrasts and abstract patterns, typically sewn in an improvised fashion that bears the skills and sensibilities of their individual creators, captivated art reviewers during a national rediscovery of the quilts in the early 2000s, and the quilts have since been featured at fine art museums throughout the United States, including the Whitney Museum of American Art.

For more information about the North Alabama Agriplex, including how to register for the Gee’s Bend Heritage Homeschool event and other upcoming programs, visit the nonprofit’s website at agrilpex.org.