Crowns Committee

Recently, a group of ladies from our community joined forces with Piedmont Arts to acquire and promote our upcoming exhibit, Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats. These women have worked diligently to raise funds necessary to bring this exciting exhibit to Piedmont Arts. They have written letters to community members, appealed to local churches and businesses and given of their own time — all in an effort to showcase a subject matter dear to their hearts.

To highlight the importance of "crowns" in our community, Piedmont Arts invited local ladies to submit their own church hats for display in our galleries during this wonderful exhibit. On December 10, Piedmont Arts received hats from many local women. Though many of the hats were their own, they also loaned us hats that had been passed down from generation to generation. These hats had belonged to their mothers, grandmothers and aunts. Some had belonged to well–known women in the community. All represent a cherished custom in the African–American community.



We thank these ladies for their tireless efforts and for loaning us their lovely hats. We are pleased to present these fine local crowns alongside the beautiful photographs and stories included in this exhibit.

Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats will be on display at Piedmont Art from January 9 - February 21, 2009.

Also on display: Legacy for the Generations: Jacob Lawrence's Legend of John Brown & Veiled Series: Works by Brian Counihan in the Lynwood Artists Gallery