Episode #31 feat. Lauren Cross
In this episode, Eric sits down with Lauren Cross, Ph.D Gail-Oxford Associate Curator of American Decorative Arts at The Huntington. They discuss how she was encouraged to express herself artistically as a young girl and that she comes from a creative family. Her educational journey; interdisciplinary studio art background including photography, different media and installations. How she first became drawn to quilting as an art form; to eventually learn that she comes from a family of quilt makers herself! Her personal work that dealt with the history, gender, hierarchies and dynamics within society.. discovering Gee’s Bend while working on a documentary about quilting. They explore the traditions and social and cultural impact of quilt making in this isolated community; the different styles of quilting — from utilitarian purposes, improvisational and story quilt style that is very prominent in the African American community and the role it played in self-expression and body image. How Cross began curating and her passion for acknowledging, celebrating and creating opportunities for other artists from different backgrounds that deserve a platform including her recent appointment as curator of American Decorative Arts; and The Huntington’s efforts in the desire to bring more artists of color into the collection.
Guest Bio: Lauren Cross is a curator, interdisciplinary artist, and critical scholar whose research has focused on American decorative arts and material culture with a special emphasis on African American traditions with nearly fifteen years of experience teaching in higher education as a college professor, and nearly seventeen years of experience working in administrative/management positions in both public and private sectors. As an interdisciplinary artist, her work has been exhibited and screened across the country. Her first feature documentary, The Skin Quilt Project, was an official selection for the 2010 International Black Women's Film Festival in Berkeley, California which explored the intersections of skin color politics in African American quilting traditions. As a result of that film, she curated the traveling exhibition “The Skin Quilt Project: Uplifting Our Culture, Celebrating Tradition.” Cross is the Founder and Curator of WoCA Projects art gallery in Fort Worth, Texas; a nonprofit arts organization which aims to highlight and support women artists of color and diversify the contemporary art landscape through exhibitions and community arts programming. Lauren has curated exhibitions and art programs throughout the United States; including several important museum exhibitions, including, most recently, “Black Every Day: Photographs from the Carter Collection” (2022) at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art and “The Right to Herself” (2020) at the Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, Colorado. Cross was recently appointed as the new Gail-Oxford Associate Curator of American Decorative Arts, coming from the University of North Texas, where she held the position of assistant professor and program coordinator of interdisciplinary art and design studies. As the Gail-Oxford Associate Curator, Cross will develop programs and propose acquisitions, engage in exhibitions and research projects, foster public engagement, and help broaden the collection to include more works by artists of color. Working from The Huntington’s outstanding collection strengths in American folk art, Arts and Crafts, Greene and Greene, and Colonial-era material, Cross will help grow previously underrepresented areas of the collection and shift to a more hemispheric context by highlighting the global exchange between the Americas, Asia, and Europe. Cross earned a Ph.D. in multicultural women’s and gender studies from Texas Woman’s University; an M.F.A. in visual arts from Lesley University; and a B.A. in art, design, and media from Richmond, the American International University in London; and she studied photography and media arts at the University of Texas at Arlington. Her current research project aims to highlight the history of African American fiber art traditions and contemporary contributions by American artists of African descent.
