| Kyra E. Hicks was mesmerized after seeing Eva Ungar Grudin’s 1990 traveling exhibition, “Stitching Memories: African-American Story Quilts,” that she began to learn their stories—and to teach herself to create her own quilts. “I found my voice that afternoon in the museum,” she remembers.
This was the beginning of a journey that led Kyra not only to learn quilting, but also to write her books, This I Accomplish: Harriet Powers' Bible Quilt and Other Pieces (Black Threads Press, 2009), Martha Ann's Quilt for Queen Victoria (Brown Books Publishing, 2007, based on a true story) and Black Threads: An African American Quilting Sourcebook (McFarland & Co., 2003). She co-wrote Liberia: A Visit Through Books with Izetta Roberts Cooper (2008).
Self-taught as were so many of the quilters who inspired her, Kyra is a skilled crafter whose work has been shown in such prestigious venues as the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, New York, the American Craft Museum in New York, the Smithsonian Institution’s Renwick Gallery in Washington DC, the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, and the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, and is included in the Permanent Collection of the Museum of Arts & Design in New York City. Her work has also been featured in over a dozen books, newspapers, and magazines, including Essence, Folk Art, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times.
Dr. Yolanda Woods profiled Kyra and three other Black women quilters in her dissertation, New World African Conjurers Who Edify and Heal the Community (AAT9974639).
In her own quilting, Kyra uses cotton to explore political, religious, family and romantic themes. Her original story quilts document her experiences as a young, black, single woman.
A scholar and international lecturer who brings meticulous research to her writing, her speaking — and her quilt designs, Kyra received grants from The Anyone Can Fly Foundation (founded by Faith Ringgold, author of the popular quilting story Tar Beach) and the National Quilting Association, Inc.
She has presented at the American Museum of Textile History in Lowell, MA, the Multicultural Education lecture series at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC and the “Performance, Pedagogy, and Politics in Online Spaces” conference at the University of Maryland. Kyra also leads workshops on the creative process in story quiltmaking.
Kyra hosts an African American quilting news blog at www.BlackThreads.Blogspot.com.
Kyra holds an MBA from the University of Michigan, a diploma from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a BBA from Howard University. Kyra is a marketing professional. She has worked in marketing and ecommerce for major corporations including Marriott International, America Online, Washingtonpost.com, and Hallmark Cards. She is a member of the Women of Color Quilters Network, American Quilt Study Group, and the National Quilting Association.
A Los Angeles native, Kyra Hicks now resides in Arlington, Virginia.
Kyra Hicks is available for lectures and workshops. You can contact her via email. Click here.
|
