Meet the Quilts of Gee's Bend

In an isolated bend of the Alabama River, the tiny Black community of Gee’s Bend has produced quilts so bold and original that the art world reeled when it noticed — improvised geometric masterpieces, sewn across generations by women in this remote hamlet, that now hang in the Smithsonian and have appeared on U.S. postage stamps. Cut off by the river and a discontinued ferry for decades, the isolation is part of what made the art so singular.