The Department of Art and Art History celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery March on March 25 by partnering with Birmingham’s Bib & Tucker Sew-Op—along with community partners including the Birmingham Museum of Art, UAB’s ArtPlay, and the Desert Island Supply Co.—to create The March Quilts: A Community Project.

UAB art major Jonathan Niega of Moody, Alabama, designed the project logo and all collateral materials. Niega is a student in UAB Associate Professor of Graphic Design Doug Barrett’s Bloom Studio and is involved in MEDIUM: The UAB Art Club.

Throughout January and February, community members were invited to participate in open sewing sessions and create 7” quilt blocks that were sewn into large, commemorative narrative quilts. Upon completion the quilts will be publicly exhibited in Selma and Montgomery for the 50th anniversary and will then return to Birmingham for a special celebration.