- There are quilters, and then
there are the amazing women who sew quilts
in Gee''s Bend, Alabama. - You may already know
the story of how their work went
from unknown to highly collectable, shown in museums and galleries
all over the world. - This spring,
some of those quilts and two of their makers
came to Kansas City thanks to a pair
of parishioners at the Country Club
Congregational United Church of Christ. - Producer Ashley Holcroft
looks in on this colorful
cross-cultural collaboration. <i>[woman singing]</i> <i>- #</i>Steal away # <i># To Jesus #</i> # Steal away # # Steal away... # -<i>Meet China and Mary Ann
Pettway.</i> <i>Though not related,
they''re direct decedents</i> <i>of slaves
brought to Gee''s Bend, Alabama,</i> <i>in the 19th century--</i> <i>no bigger
than three square miles</i> <i>and, at last census,
fewer than 300 people.</i> <i>No roads or stores,
just a post office.</i> <i>But this isolation was no hedge
against history''s grasp,</i> <i>from the quake of emancipation</i> <i>to the violence of having
their sole ferry burned</i> <i>as punishment
for attempting to vote.</i> <i>- # Steal away #</i> <i>- Their story is one
of resilience, faith,</i> <i>and creativity.</i> <i>But the story of how they got
to Kansas City for the weekend</i> <i>is more of a story of mystery,
gumption, and friendship.</i> <i>And it all started
with Jean Ayres.</i> <i>- I''m a retired physician
who''s sewed all her life</i> <i>and began quilting
in probably the year 2000</i> and joined the Blue Valley
Quilters Guild and found a group of friends
that I found very meaningful. And I learned that anything
with a needle and thread is very common ground
for women to be friends. And I began
to be interested also with history of Kansas quilts, if there was something peculiar
to the state of Kansas. Found out with Kansas quilt
study group that there really wasn''t a quilt
that was peculiar to Kansas, because there was no cotton
grown in Kansas, and so by the time
the train brought the cotton, they brought
the quilt patterns too. <i>- The absence was of particular
interest to Jean,</i> <i>who was looking
for a fitting logo</i> <i>for the ladies'' retreat
she had started</i> <i>with best friend
Judy Long O''Neal.</i> <i>Their answer would come
from an unexpected source.</i> - One day, I was driving
from Kansas City, and I said to Judy, "I''m just really in the mood
to go junking. "Are you home? Let''s go to the antique mall
in Baldwin, Kansas." And she said, "Yeah,
I''m home. Let''s go." So we went,
and we were looking, and in the very back,
I saw a quilt. And I just thought, "I think
I know what that is. "But I don''t know the history, and I don''t know the name
of the pattern for sure." -<i>Jean discovered that her find
was, in fact, a Pine Burr,</i> <i>the state quilt of Alabama.</i> <i>- And when I began to look
about the history,</i> <i>there was a woman</i> whose name
was Loretta Pettway Bennett who had written the instructions
on the pattern for the Alabama archives. I found her on Facebook
and began a friendship with her, and eventually I learned she was born
in Gee''s Bend, Alabama. -<i>Not long after,</i> <i>their friendship grew
to an invitation,</i> <i>one that was easy to accept.</i> <i>Judy jumped on board,</i> <i>and the girls hit the road
in Jean''s Jeep,</i> <i>not knowing what adventures lie
before them.</i> - It was bow and arrow season, and all the guys in the
restaurant were in camouflage, and we were in there
ordering a salad, and they''re eating racks of ribs
and drinking beer. -<i>But any hazards faded,
and they soon found themselves</i> <i>in the quilting mecca
of Gee''s Bend.</i> - There are no handshakes;
there are only hugs. And they claim their history,
and they''ll gladly tell you about their grandfather
or things they know. Some of them were part
of the slaves that walked
from Halifax, North Carolina, to the Pettway plantation. So they claim that history. But there''s a joy. There''s a feeling of gratitude. There''s a feeling
of being blessed. There''s a feeling--when you ask
them about their quilts, they talk about
when William Arnett, the art collector,
discovered them in the 1990s. They didn''t know
they were making art. They were making things
that were utilitarian for their family. <i>[woman humming]</i> And the trip to Gee''s Bend
suddenly wasn''t as focused. I mean, I remembered to ask
about the Pine Burr, but it became so much more
about the experience of the ground and the people
and the friendship and their life and understanding
the relationship to plantation times
and civil rights. And it just became
an amazing experience, not a history trip. -<i>Their tour included
several stops</i> <i>and wonderful hospitality,</i> <i>but when their time came
to a close,</i> <i>something had changed.</i> - We got in the car, and we
began our long drive back, and I remember that was
the quietest part of our trip. We didn''t say anything
for a long time, because it was a very, very
moving experience. Just enjoyed. And we had plans to stop
along the way, and it just didn''t seem
important on the way home. -<i>And it was soon after
that Jean and Judy had an idea.</i> <i>Their church is involved
in a regional</i> <i>racial and economic equality
organization, MORE2,</i> <i>and having
the Gee''s Bend ladies come up</i> <i>and share their stories
would be a perfect fit.</i> <i>The idea was picked up,</i> <i>other parishioners
and volunteers joined,</i> <i>and early in April,
it all came together.</i> <i>- # He''s calling #</i> both: # He''s calling by
the thunder # - This quilt
that I hung in here, I made out of old clothing-- out of old jean, corduroy, you know, whatever the ladies
got a hand onto it at the time. - I make a quilt
about this size. And I say, "Oh,
I don''t like this." I cut, and I cut,
and I take loose until it gets to suit me. <i>[soft vocal music]</i> <i>- Our parents took care of us</i> <i>the way they knew how
to take care of us.</i> You know, we had a house, and they were not insulated
as houses are now. That''s where
the quilts come from. You know, they made the quilts
to put on the floor, ''cause we had to live
on the floor. We didn''t have no beds
to lay on. So Mama had to make quilts. - When we tell y''all our story, we don''t be telling it
for nobody to feel-- we don''t want you all
to feel sorry for us. We just be telling it
to let you all know where God has brought us from
and what he done for us and how he had opened up doors
and made ways for us. Gee''s Bend is on the map now. <i># #</i> - Love it! - I think it''s gonna be...
[indistinct]. - Part of the experience
for me and for Jean was the gift of the stories
that were shared with us, because people
that were attending also didn''t realize
the impact it would have. The quilts were the catalyst
for getting us together. So we''re surrounded by arts
and the handwork of these women, and then you realize that you''re into much bigger
a story than that, which is the story
of the quilts. <i>[woman singing gospel music]</i> <i># #</i> [applause] -<i>That story merges nicely</i> with our Beyond Belief
project, looking at the ways that faith connects the people
of Kansas City and not just through worship but also how it can bridge
racial and ethnic divides. - On June 23rd, KCPT will air
a 30-minute documentary devoted to those themes. You can also keep up
with "Beyond Belief" online at flatlandkc.org. Well, this week, our series about Kansas City fountains
resumes as producer/videographer
Dave Burkhardt takes a trip to Mission Hills. Where Octarium director and KCPT contributor
Krista Blackwood gives us the scoop
on her favorite fountain. <i>[cheerful music]</i> <i>- It''s called Swan Fountain.</i> <i>I discovered it
in the early 2000s</i> <i>when I was in this neighborhood</i> <i>to deliver a CD
of a church service</i> <i>to a congregant.</i> <i>And I saw this, and I stopped.</i> <i>And I spent an hour here,
just sitting here,</i> <i>imagining what could be
possible in ancient times.</i> <i>I am a leader of a group
of eight singers.</i> <i>There are eight pillars, and
that seemed like kismet to me.</i> <i>It''s the whole space,</i> <i>and it''s how they''ve set up
these stairs</i> <i>as if they''re expecting
a performance here,</i> <i>as if they''re expecting
something to happen here.</i> <i>I imagine a procession.</i> <i>I imagine--and a larger choir
than my eight,</i> <i>you know, a 60-voice choir
up there,</i> <i>doing something beautiful,</i> <i>with chairs filling
this whole grass area.</i> <i>I would love
to have a concert here</i> <i>and place the singers
on these steps.</i> <i>If I was going to program music
for the space,</i> <i>I think I''d program
nature music.</i> <i>There''s music about swans.</i> There''s music about wind.
There''s music about water. There''s echo music. And I think if you put people
in a space like this and program music
about the space they''re in, <i>it makes it a really formative
and complete</i> <i>artistic experience.</i> <i>I use swans a lot
when I''m working with choirs,</i> <i>because they''re
these graceful creatures.</i> <i>Above the water,
they just glide,</i> <i>like choral music sounds.</i> <i>But under the water,
they''re working like heck.</i> <i>They''re kicking
those little feet.</i> <i>And that''s--you know, choral
music and singing is like that.</i> <i>You need to sound and look
graceful,</i> <i>but underneath,
you''re working really hard</i> <i>on that air you''re creating and
the support you''re creating.</i> <i>So I use swans.</i> <i>Often, I use ducks,
but swans are more elegant.</i> <i># #</i> <i>It''s almost like
an organized performance space,</i> <i>like somebody painted
a backdrop</i> <i>and we''re gonna put on
a Greek tragedy here--</i> <i>"Antigone" or something.</i> <i># #</i> <i>The water feature portion of it</i> <i>is not as important to me
as the whole piece of it,</i> <i>which is, I think,
why I like it so much.</i> <i>The fountain is not
the central portion.</i> <i>It is a part
of the whole ambiance.</i> - We had to catch Krista quickly
for that. She and her family leave
at the end of June for a new job in Morocco. - I hear she has
reserved the right to chose her own favorite
fountain over there as well. Best of luck,
Dr. Blackwood. - Well, this next story
also involves people who help get music made
and sometimes suffer for it. - Symphony and choral conductors
can develop rotator cuff and other
repetitive motion maladies. - But thanks
to the innovative folks at the UMKC School
of Computing and Engineering, help is on the way. - Brad Austin and Mike Sherry
show you how health and art come together
in a most unusual way. -<i>Researchers at the University
of Missouri Kansas City''s</i> <i>School of Computing
and Engineering</i> <i>are using
motion capture technology</i> <i>to help aspiring maestros
avoid problems like kyphosis,</i> <i>an exaggerated rounding
of the back.</i> - Conductors are constantly
trying to avoid rotator cuff injuries
in their shoulders, injuries in their back,
injuries in their neck, injuries in vertebrae. And anything can be a-- <i>postural injuries can become
very costly and debilitating.</i> And the worst-case scenario
could be-- prevent them from continuing
their career. -<i>My background''s
in mechanical engineering.</i> <i>We study movements.
We study forces.</i> It just happens
that we''re applying those things to humans in this case. <i>To help people in real life,
we can take</i> this motion analysis data
or motion capture data and process it,
and in processing it, <i>we can calculate
different things</i> <i>like joint angles</i> and other kinematics. So, for example, we could
calculate kyphosis angle. <i>We could calculate the angle
of pelvic tilt.</i> <i>[soft music]</i> <i>- I''ll look at the monitor</i> and kind of just play around
with it and watch how
the motion capture system shows you everything
that''s moving. <i>And then the force plates
tell you</i> <i>where your body weight is</i> and what your muscles
are doing at the time. So it''s interesting to see
how your whole body reacts to what you''re doing. -<i>And in taking the theme
of unlikely partnerships</i> <i>one step further,</i> <i>consider how UMKC
School of Dance</i> <i>helped its musical brethren
correct the mistakes</i> <i>picked up by
the motion capture technology.</i> <i>- Well, one of the things that
Greg and I talked about is,</i> the kyphosis angle had changed. So--and that was something that we were looking at
very closely, because that is something
that plagues a lot of people and, in particular,
a lot of conductors. So instead of an angle
like this, you had a little bit more of this kind of an angle happening,
right? <i>So now the neck and head are
not jutting forward anymore.</i> <i>Someone''s in more of
a proper up-and-down alignment.</i> <i>They seem to be more stable
on their footing</i> <i>with the conducting trials
that happened later in the lab</i> <i>compared to the ones
that happened earlier.</i> <i>So my assessment of that was,</i> <i>their core strength
or core stability</i> <i>was helping them be
more stable in general.</i> - The reality of the
motion capture data, for me, is a quantitative opportunity
to really synthesize what they are, in fact,
doing scientifically and from a concrete, cerebral
viewpoint. <i>And it can give us the
ability--allow us the ability</i> <i>to measure improvements
that we think are happening.</i> But this has been
a really great way of knowing that the course
that we''re going down actually is of benefit,
not just of metaphor. - Movement is definitely
the name of the game here at the Todd Bolender Center
for Dance and Creativity, named for the man who led
the Kansas City Ballet for so many years. - It serves as
the company''s home base, <i>but there are a lot of
other things going on here</i> <i>that also serve
the cause of dance.</i> <i>- Classes for young and old,
events and performances,</i> <i>and it''s really a great reuse
of what used to be</i> <i>the power plant
for Union Station.</i> <i>[upbeat music]</i> - Here on "Arts Upload,"
we not only show you great stories
close to home-- the ballet will be performing
"Rite of Spring" at the Kauffman
through May 15th-- but also stories
from around the country. - This next one takes us
to the great Southwest to watch Ian Ruhter''s
camera truck in action. - He''s taking photographs
the old-school way. <i>- Photography is like
a passport to the world,</i> <i>and--and this truck
has opened up so many doors,</i> <i>and it''s allowed me
to meet so many people,</i> <i>and it''s like a big magnet,
and it brings stories to you,</i> <i>and it also gives you an excuse
to travel and see the world.</i> <i>The minute I stepped in here,
it made sense.</i> <i>It''s like, "Of course
you built a camera</i> <i>where you see the world
upside down and backwards."</i> <i>Like, it really made sense,
and I''m like, "Okay."</i> <i>[gentle piano music]</i> <i>Upside down is one thing,</i> <i>but the backwardness is--
I really understand that,</i> <i>''cause that''s really dyslexic,</i> <i>and that''s part of
my learning disabilities</i> <i>or whatever they call it,
but it''s how I see the world.</i> <i>The pictures that I really like</i> <i>are the ones
that make you feel.</i> <i>They''re not so much
pretty colors</i> <i>or something over the top,</i> <i>but they''re something
that make you feel,</i> <i>and it makes you feel sad
or happy or a certain emotion,</i> <i>and you don''t really know why,</i> <i>but you have that connection
with it.</i> <i># #</i> Why I chose the wet plate? I think it was out of necessity, because I''d been working in the
digital medium for a while, and they didn''t get rid
of all the film, <i>but Kodak and Fuji
and these companies</i> <i>started going out of business
or discontinuing film,</i> <i>and a piece of me
got discontinued at that point.</i> <i>And when I learned
about wet plate,</i> <i>I learned that I could make
my own film.</i> <i>And at that point, no one could
ever take that away from me.</i> It''s interesting;
with photography, I''ll literally dream
about photos and I''ll see them in my head. And then as I''m driving
down the road, it''s almost like déjà vu
where I''m like, "I''ve seen that before" or
"This strikes something in me." And then I''m like, "That''s what
I want to photograph." <i>When we''re shooting
out in the elements,</i> <i>you know, just a little bit
of wind will shake the camera.</i> And nature creates
all the beauty, but it also gives us
the most adversity and the most challenges, so you just have to be patient. That''s the big lesson in
photography, is being patient. <i># #</i> <i>When we travel to a new place,</i> <i>what I like to do
is just look at it</i> and sit there for a couple days
until you can kind of feel it. And I think it could take years,
even, but we only had so much time. But before you just go out
and start shooting, you got to kind of sit there
and feel it and feel the dry desert air,
like, blow across you and your lips get dry. And once you feel that,
then you can go out and kind of capture it
and absorb it. This one actually worked out
pretty easy. But I had looked at it
for over a week, and I kind of had it
figured out. We just had to wait on the wind
and the wind to stop. And then we showed up at
the right time, and it worked. <i># #</i> If I ever space travel,
honestly, this image,
I felt like I was on Mars. I mean, I live
in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and there''s all Yosemite
and these real famous spots, but I''ve never seen anything
like this. This doesn''t even look
like the Earth to me. See, because there are
limitations on the contrast and everything where that plateau in the back
is really washed out and that, but it also creates depth. And I don''t try to correct
those things. I really just embrace them, and I think they make them--
they make them what they are. And in life, it seems like we
always want to fix everything, and it''s kind of--start thinking
of it in society <i>with plastic surgery
and Photoshop.</i> <i>And we always want it better,
better,</i> <i>but what''s wrong
with the way it is?</i> <i>What''s wrong
with the way we are?</i> <i>And that''s why I like
the collodion process too,</i> <i>''cause it is--this is it.</i> <i>And it''s not perfect,
but it is perfect.</i> <i>It''s better than perfect.</i> One thing
that really got my attention is how powerful nature is, but the life that exists in it
is equally as powerful. And this tree has probably been
washed out over hundreds of years;
I don''t know. But you can see the roots
are stretching out like fingers reaching into the Earth, and they''re still
sucking up water. And where that tree
is half dead, but it''s also half alive, and it''ll probably be
like that for a long time. And that one... just really struck something
in me that how--it just shows
how powerful life is and the will to survive
and live. This house really drew me in, because it''s kind of like
a broken dream. And I''m sure someone
at one point lived there and they had a farm
and it was a really neat thing. And then as time went by, it kind of looks like
it didn''t work out. How we make the plates is, I usually sit somewhere in here. And what we do is, we pour
the film on top of this plate, and it''s--the film''s
actually collodion, and it has other
iodized salts in it, and we pour it
over this plate and just float it
back and forth to get it on evenly. Then from there, it goes
into our silver tank. Those silver crystals mix
with those iodides, and it makes a silver haloid, and that''s what makes
these plates so reflective. <i>And then we put the plate
on the focusing board</i> <i>and open the lens
and expose it to light.</i> So that--those are
the really big-- the really important components
of it, and then you just develop it
and fix it like kind of traditional
black-and-white. New Mexico kind of fits
into our process and the West, because it reminds me
of this pioneer spirit <i>and these vast open spaces
and ruggedness</i> <i>and kind of this "you have to
do it yourself" attitude.</i> <i>And you''re out there.</i> <i>And the guys that--and women
that did this photography</i> <i>in the 1800s,
they had that spirit,</i> <i>and that was something
that I missed in photography</i> <i>over the years.</i> <i>It kind of went away.</i> <i>I''m not sure if I found
photography or if it found me,</i> <i>but I know that it''s
a real important piece</i> <i>of who I am.</i> <i>The people we meet
and we ask them questions,</i> <i>I end up learning stuff
about myself.</i> And you start finding out
you''re not alone and you''re not the only one
that feels a certain way <i>or looks at the world that way.</i> <i>And what inspires me
to continue</i> <i>is just the thought
of having a dream.</i> <i>And I think
that everyone has dreams,</i> and that''s really one thing that connects us all
as a human race. And without dreams,
you wouldn''t have a reason to get up in the morning. You wouldn''t have a purpose
or something to go forward. And I think the dreams are
really important. - So fountains, photographers,
quilters, and conductors. Looks like another "Arts Upload"
has hit the end of the line. - But we''ll be back next week
with a visit to The Rabbit Hole and stories that center
around movies. - Till then, from here
at the Bolender Center, I''m Randy Mason. - And I''m Maris Aylward.
Thanks for watching. [dramatic percussive music] # # [dramatic classical music] - "Rite of Spring" is a very
sort of dark work. It''s all about--about society
kind of becoming <i>less and less in touch
with the natural world</i> <i>and about, you know, how we''re,</i> <i>with all this pollution
and technology,</i> <i>becoming less and less
connected.</i> <i>And there''s a central figure
who kind of represents</i> <i>everything that is pure
and natural and innocent.</i> <i>And you''ve got these depleted,
kind of empty, you know,</i> <i>soulless kind of people
kind of ruining her.</i> <i>So she''s kind of fighting
for her light, so to speak.</i> <i>So it''s just really
a little parable</i> about the times we live in. <i>It''s quite bleak.</i> - As an informaticist,
I''m also very intrigued <i>in the volume of data.</i> <i>So one minute of data capture</i> <i>generations a million
data points,</i> <i>and you can imagine
the opportunities</i> <i>to improve how we can analyze
that data.</i> <i>And then if we can start
to connect that</i> <i>with data derived
from our clinical settings</i> and look at which
performance patterns correlate with more effective outcomes,
that''s a huge opportunity for informatics at UMKC. <i>people: # Praise God #</i> <i># Praise God #</i> # Praise God # # Praise God # <i># Praise God #</i> <i># Praise God #</i> <i># Praise God #</i> # Praise God # # Praise... # # God # - Man.
[applause] <i>announcer: Production
funding for "Arts Upload"</i> <i>has been provided
in part by:</i>
