The origin story of the quilters’ national attention begins with William Arnett, an art dealer, who when looking through a book of quilts found a photograph of Annie Mae Young’s quilt over a woodpile.  The photograph was part of a photojournalist publication due to the overwhelming success and exposure from the Freedom Quilting Bee. He was so entranced that he ended up tracking down Ms. Young who found the quilt under her bed. Mr. Arnett quickly bought as many quilts as he could. He explained to both the quilters and art museum curators the true historic, artistic, and economic value of the quilts. 

The quilts would eventually be shown in museums across the country spurring a resurgence in the field of textile fine art. There would go on to be books and documentaries highlighting the history of the quilters and quilts. 
 

Souls Grown Deep is an organization that represents and promotes Black Southern artists and are quick to refute the term “self-taught” for Gee’s Bend quilters or any artist stating: “The persistent reference to Black artists as “self-taught” emanates from a market-driven bias against artists of color.”  They also point out that other famous American artists like Andrew Wyeth and Thornton Dial who received no formal training are not identified as self-taught. If you would like to know more about the over 120 Black women quilters of Gee’s Bend, please click here.