{{short description|American artist (1920–2015)}} '''Irene Williams''' (1920–2015) was an American artist. She is associated with the Gee's Bend quilting collective, although she made her quilts "in solitude" and "uninfluenced."<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.soulsgrowndeep.org/artist/irene-williams|title=Irene Williams {{!}} Souls Grown Deep Foundation|website=www.soulsgrowndeep.org|access-date=2019-04-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o57mBjxyVHEC|title=Gee's Bend: The Women and Their Quilts|last1=Beardsley|first1=John|last2=Arnett|first2=William|last3=Arnett|first3=Paul|last4=Livingston|first4=Jane|date=2002|publisher=Tinwood Books|isbn=9780971910409|language=en|page=375}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oULezQjE5hwC|title=Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt|last1=Arnett|first1=William|last2=Herman|first2=Bernard|date=2006|publisher=Tinwood Books|isbn=9780971910478|language=en|page=27}}</ref> Her work has been exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Frist Art Museum, and is included in the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.artandobject.com/news/philadelphia-museum-art-expands-african-american-art-collection|title=Philadelphia Museum of Art Expands African American Art Collection|website=Art & Object|language=en|access-date=2019-04-21}}</ref> the Indianapolis Museum of Art,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://collection.imamuseum.org/artwork/50093/|title=Gee's Bend quilt, "Housetop" variation with "Postage Stamp" center row|website=Indianapolis Museum of Art Online Collection}}</ref> the Museum of Fine Arts Boston,<ref name=":2" /> and the National Gallery of Art.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Blocks and Strips |url=https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.222436.html |access-date=2022-09-24 |website=www.nga.gov|date=4 October 1980 }}</ref>
== Life == Irene Williams was the daughter of Sandy and Tom Williams. She grew up on a farm with common crops like cotton, watermelon, etc. They also raised various livestock.<ref name=":0" />
She completed school until the ninth grade. At seventeen,<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |title=Creation Story: Gee's Bend Quilts and the Art of Thornton Dial |publisher=Vanderbilt University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-8265-1880-4 |editor-last=Scala |editor-first=Mark |pages=40}}</ref> she married Cornelius Williams, a man whom she adored, and together they raised six children – three boys and three girls. One of her sons died young, trying to save a logging truck driver from his wrecked vehicle.<ref name=":0" />
Williams' sister-in-law was fellow quilter, Liza Jane Williams.<ref name=":0" />
== Work == Williams did not begin making quilts until she was married and began to have children. Although members of her family and community made quilts, Williams always quilted alone in her house. having never participated in quilting bees, William's style developed on its own, uninfluenced by her peers.<ref name=":0" />
In "Strips,"<ref>{{Cite web |title=Strips {{!}} Souls Grown Deep |url=https://www.soulsgrowndeep.org/artist/irene-williams/work/strips |access-date=2022-09-24 |website=www.soulsgrowndeep.org}}</ref> created around 1960, Williams deconstructed used basketball jerseys to form a quilt that mimics a street map, with a main street lined with houses with street numbers.<ref>{{Cite book |title=History refused to die : the enduring legacy of the African American art of Alabama |date=2015 |others=William S. Arnett, Laura Bickford, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Alabama Contemporary Art Center, Printed by the Prolific Group |isbn=978-0-692-36520-5 |location=[Montgomery, Ala.] |oclc=909397263}}</ref>
Her "Vote" quilt,<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Vote Quilt |url=https://collections.mfa.org/objects/430773/vote-quilt?ctx=ee541487-4fe8-4ce8-9104-ad79b15dde35&idx=0 |access-date=September 24, 2022 |website=MFA Boston}}</ref> a housetop-style quilt featuring red, white, and blue fabric strips with the word "vote" printed on them, was inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 1965 visit to Gee's Bend.<ref name=":1" />
Williams' "Blocks and Strips"<ref>{{Cite web |title=Blocks and Strips Quilt |url=https://philamuseum.org/collection/object/340287 |access-date=2022-09-24 |website=philamuseum.org |language=en}}</ref> quilt features bright colors and irregular, geometric shapes. It is part of the permanent collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
== References == {{reflist}}
{{Quilters of Gee's Bend}}
{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Irene}}
Category:Gee's Bend quilters Category:1920 births Category:2015 deaths