On rural American roads, a large painted wooden square on the side of a barn can tell a traveller which crossroads they have reached or whose family farm lies ahead. Barn quilts turn geometry into signposts, and a more contested legend tells of Underground Railroad quilt codes, patterns hung on washing lines to signal shelter or danger to people fleeing slavery. Cloth, it seems, has long been willing to give directions.
Karen May, Down By the Ol' Mill. Mixed media.
That habit of reading a route in a pattern drives North Star, which is now open at the NIAD Main Gallery in Richmond, California, and runs to 30 October. Curator Josh Faught takes the title from a traditional quilt block that stands for guidance and freedom. His premise will ring true for anyone who has sewn a patchwork. Scraps in clashing colours and arguing patterns, each with a past of its own, are stitched into one ordered whole, and the maker works out where they stand.
Luis Estrada, Untitled. Fabric, marker, and thread, 2020
Maria Radilla, Barbie. Embroidery on fabric, 2025.
The artists on show take that idea in very different directions. Luis Estrada, who calls himself a weather man, stitches small floral works that follow the forecast alongside notes on the news and whatever he has been watching on television. Maria Radilla’s Barbie links the famous doll to the muñecas of her Mexican childhood. Shana Harper’s full-size quilt pairs printed images of nature with Ankara fabric edging, a conversation between her surroundings and her ancestors.
Esmeralda Silva, Untitled. Fabric with dye, paint, marker, and thread, 2018.
Behind the show sits a particular idea of kinship. NIAD Art Center was founded in Richmond in 1982 by Florence Ludins-Katz and Dr Elias Katz, a couple who believed creative expression belongs to everyone, including people with disabilities. Now in its fifth decade, it is an inclusive community where art makes each individual and their story visible. Its programming is designed by 75 adult artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities, supported by a staff of 30 creatives and working artists. Like sister studios Creative Growth and Creativity Explored, it follows the progressive art studio model, where facilitators assist rather than teach, artists show in galleries and at fairs, and artists earn a commission when their work sells. Most of those in North Star have held studios there, joined by guest artists from the Bay Area and Chicago.
Carlos Fernandez, Unique Wallhanging. Mixed Media.
A quilt suits a place like this. It is made from many hands and many offcuts, and it keeps a household warm. The studio works in the same way, rooted in the Bay Area and part of Richmond’s Arts Corridor, with each artist’s voice sewn into a community that backs their work. Most of us navigate by the people stitched into our lives, and North Star invites visitors to look for their own bearings among the patches.
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Further Information:
North Star is on show until 30 October in the main gallery at NIAD, Richmond, California.
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Image Credits:
Lead: Peter Harris, Untitled. Acrylic and pastel on sewn fabric, 2023.
All further images as credited in captions and courtesy of the artists at NIAD.