Exhibition Guide

A quilt with a nighttime scene with five figures with dark skin who appear to be enjoying a bonfire party on a beach surrounded by water.

Stephen Towns. Motown in Motion. 2024. Courtesy Art Bridges. © Stephen Towns

A quilt with a nighttime scene with five figures with dark skin who appear to be enjoying a bonfire party on a beach surrounded by water.

Motown in Motion

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Art Object Info

Stephen Towns

Medium:
Natural and synthetic fabric, polyester and cotton thread, crystal glass beads, metal and resin buttons
Date:
2024

These works by Stephen Towns depict Paradise Park in Ocala, Florida. Opened in 1949 on May 20—Emancipation Day in Florida—Paradise Park was one of the few vacation spots open to African Americans in the United States at the time and quickly became one of the most popular. Drawing from extensive archival research and photographs, Towns introduces the visitors of Paradise Park through richly textured and vibrant quilts and paintings. Despite segregation and discrimination outside Paradise Park, these works represent African Americans freely at play and in moments of leisure.

Towns was born in 1980 in Lincolnville, South Carolina, and lives and works in Baltimore. He is a trained painter with a B.F.A. in studio art from the University of South Carolina and has also developed a rigorous, self-taught quilting practice. Alternating between media practices, Towns mines archives and family stories to explore African American history.

Courtesy Art Bridges BMA

Motown in Motion

Stephen Towns
Date:
2024
Medium:
Natural and synthetic fabric, polyester and cotton thread, crystal glass beads, metal and resin buttons

These works by Stephen Towns depict Paradise Park in Ocala, Florida. Opened in 1949 on May 20—Emancipation Day in Florida—Paradise Park was one of the few vacation spots open to African Americans in the United States at the time and quickly became one of the most popular. Drawing from extensive archival research and photographs, Towns introduces the visitors of Paradise Park through richly textured and vibrant quilts and paintings. Despite segregation and discrimination outside Paradise Park, these works represent African Americans freely at play and in moments of leisure.

Towns was born in 1980 in Lincolnville, South Carolina, and lives and works in Baltimore. He is a trained painter with a B.F.A. in studio art from the University of South Carolina and has also developed a rigorous, self-taught quilting practice. Alternating between media practices, Towns mines archives and family stories to explore African American history.

Courtesy Art Bridges BMA