In 2018, the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) received a surprise bequest from the late Eli Leon, a prominent scholar of African American quilts. Leon's extensive collection, containing over 3,000 quilts, positions BAMPFA as a leading institution for this art form. Starting June 8, the museum will showcase a significant exhibition, "Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California," despite facing federal funding cuts for conservation work. Dr. Elaine Yau is leading the project to catalog, conserve, and research the collection, which aims to illuminate the artists and traditions behind these quilts.
"This monumental bequest transformed the museum into the world's preeminent institutional holder of African American quilts, now comprising nearly one-fifth of BAMPFA's art holdings."
"BAMPFA has embarked on a long-term project of cataloging, conserving, researching and exhibiting the African American Quilt Collection, a rigorous multi-year commitment of which Routed West is one of the most significant milestones to date."
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