June 4, 2021 – January 9, 2022
A Quilted Legacy
An Exhibition in Homage to Viki Craig.
This focus exhibition features the artwork of Art in the Atrium co-founder Viki Craig. Born Victoria LeBeaux Clark (1947–2018), Viki was taught to sew at age five by her mother and her grandmother, who was a quilter.
As a young adult, her affinity for sewing and working with fabric continued, with her first large textile pieces created in the years following her marriage to Charles D. Craig in 1970. From the beginning, Charles, an attorney, and Viki, a teacher, shared a deep passion for community and education, and a pride in their heritage as African Americans.
In 1992, the two built a circle of like-minded friends, colleagues, and art enthusiasts that would become Art in the Atrium (ATA). Motherhood and work as a third-grade teacher forced Viki to put her work with fabric on hold. It was not until she retired from teaching in 2013 that she returned to daily quilt making. As a schoolteacher, Viki’s empathy for educating and exciting audiences drew people to her. Her natural interest in textiles forged lifelong relationships with fiber artists. It is to her talent and championship of Black artistry that this exhibition is dedicated. The installation includes 13 quilts dating from 2004-2018 selected by ATA guest curators Gwendolyn Barrington Jackson, Nette Forné Thomas, Onnie Strother, and Wannetta Phillips.
