From southern coastal areas to the rolling northern hills, there are endless amounts of crafts to be found in Alabama. Visitors to this state will discover unique local works and enjoy the many festivals that celebrate these special crafts. Among the styles to be found in Alabama are pottery, Native American works, and quilting – a little something for everyone.
Where to Start
Located in the mountain district of Alabama is the Fort Payne Depot Museum. In addition to local artifacts and historical documents, the museum showcases Native American arts and crafts from around the country, including pottery and baskets. Among the museum's collections are intricate dioramas created by a local artist. Also to be seen are blown glass works, and even a picture created from human hair.
Gadsden is home to the Gadsden Museum of Art. The museum showcases Southern artists who have created not only artwork, but crafts as well. Permanent and changing exhibitions include furniture, folk pottery, and quilts.
For a plethora of signature crafts, visit the Kentuck Museum and the Kentuck Festival of the Arts in Northport. This enclave bridges Southern folk arts and crafts with contemporary emerging artists. At the museum, visitors will find several studio artists along with crafts for sale. Visitors can also participate in monthly events like ArtNight. At the festival, more than 250 arts and crafts in a variety of styles are showcased the third weekend of October.
The southern end of the state features a myriad of crafts and pottery, especially in the coastal area of Orange Beach. A place with an artistic reputation, it was settled by intellectuals and artists, and the area is drenched in local creative works. The Orange Beach Art Center offers classes, exhibitions, and a gift shop. Crafts made, shown, and sold here include fiber arts, jewelry, glass, wire, mosaics, pottery, and even note cards. Many other local studios offer pottery and other creative crafts for sale.
The Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts, located in Florence, offers classes, workshops, and ever-changing exhibits. The Center also sponsors the Arts Alive Festival each May, which attracts visitors from three states to take part in a juried arts and crafts festival. Exhibits include stained glass, textiles, jewelry, furniture, pottery, and more.
Pottery in the Northwest
Pottery is very popular in Alabama, and the rich clay soil found in the state has long made pottery a practical, fun activity. In fact, Alabama pottery is traceable all the way back to early Paleo-Indians who once inhabited the area. Today, pottery is made in several state areas, and many families pass traditional methods down through the generations. Families who migrated from South Carolina and Georgia also added their traditional styles to the pottery produced in Alabama.
Jerry Brown Pottery is a prime example of historical pottery - Brown's family has been creating clay pottery for nine generations. Located in Hamilton, this family still grinds and mixes local clay the old-fashioned way, using a mule. Brown, winner of the Smithsonian Heritage Fellowship and an Alabama Folk Heritage Recipient, has become synonymous with quality traditional pottery in northern Alabama.
Jerry Brown's pottery studio is open to the public for tours, and visitors can purchase the pottery created here. The studio offers folk art pottery like face jugs and rooster pitchers, decorative pottery such as vases and birdhouses, and utilitarian pottery including bowls, canisters, and pie plates.
Brown is such an important influence on northwestern Alabama's folk arts and crafts that a two-day festival has been named in his honor. The Jerry Brown Arts Festival, "Reflections of the South," is a juried festival featuring craftspeople and artists who display works including pottery, fiber arts, bead and clay jewelry, baskets, and other hand-made items like brooms, knives, and turkey calls. Headed by the Northwest Alabama Arts Council, the festival is held each March in Hamilton.
Another historical pottery family in Alabama is the Miller family of Brent. Sometimes referred to as Alabama's oldest family folk pottery tradition, the Miller family traces their pottery making past pre-Civil War generations all the way back to the French pottery family of Lacoste. The Miller family creates both decorative and utilitarian pottery from Alabama clays, which can be seen in Brent.
Quilting
As a state with rural farming roots and a large African-American population, quilting is one of the Alabama's treasured creations. In fact, Alabama has declared the Pine-Burr Quilt, intricate and notoriously difficult to create, as the state quilt of Alabama. The quilt sprung out of the Freedom Quilting Bee, a cooperative organized in the 1960's when many African-Americans lost their jobs after registering to vote. The cooperative, located near Gee's Bend, is still in operation today, creating beautiful and unique quilts.
Gee's Bend is famous for its enclave of African-American quilters. A rural and isolated area of farmers, women of the area made such beautiful and historically significant quilts that they are now curated by the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston and travel the country on exhibition.
Quilting shows, exhibitions, and quilt challenges are popular in Alabama and are often staged at places like the Gadsden Museum of Art and the Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts. Quilt Fest is held each year in Birmingham, sponsored by the Birmingham Quilters Guild. The festival showcases more than 300 quilts and offers quilt appraisals, special exhibits, and a silent auction. Quilting in the Heartland is a festival held in Cullman each June, and it features a judged quilt show.
Crafts in Alabama are a clear representation of the early settlers who lived here. Many of these revered crafts were a direct result of early necessity. Whether early pottery used for cooking, baskets utilized for carrying harvest, or quilts created from scraps for warmth, local crafts are sure to give visitors insight into the people and history of Alabama.
Learn about the arts in Alabama.
