HMA welcomes former college basketball MVP turned textile artist Michael C. Thorpe who tells stories about his world expressed in quilts of colorful fabric, meandering stitching and printed canvas, and in playful pencil and stitched drawings. Thorpe came to quilting as an artistic vehicle connecting him to his bi-racial background. Quilting is a skill passed on intergenerationally by the matriarchs of Thorpe’s family who were part of the quilting community in New England. Thorpe’s subsequent discovery of the Gee’s Bend community of African American women quilters in Alabama offered the artist deeper personal meaning in his chosen medium and a connection to his African American heritage.

The exhibition will explore the interconnectedness of Thorpe’s passions - the creative process and basketball. The lessons that art and sports teach will be incorporated into curriculum for city and county schools.