Sarah
Mary Taylor
Yazoo City Folk Artist
Born Aug. 12, 1916 in Anding, Miss., Taylor
is a nationally acclaimed folk artist,
known for her vibrant applique quilts. Producing original designs, Taylor’s
works have been exhibited across the country in museums and galleries
in New York, Illinois, Texas, New Mexico, Connecticut, Alabama, Georgia,
Tennessee, Mississippi, and in the Corcoran Gallery in Washington D.C.
One of her most famous designs, the Hand
quilt (shown at right), was commissioned for the film The
Color Purple.
Taylor is also known for her whimsical drawings
using pencil, pen, and magic markers. These are included in many private
folk art collections, as well as in folk art publications.
Since
the early 1980s, folk art enthusiasts have traveled from all over the
country to Yazoo City to visit with Taylor.
In 1995, quilt enthusiast Liz Lindsey moved
from Nashville, Tenn. to Yazoo City to learn from the master quilter.
Lindsey continues to study under Taylor and also documents the artist's
life and works. She serves as director for this project and authored an
accompanying booklet, which will be available for purchase at the exhibition
sites, or by contacting the Yazoo County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Proceeds from the booklet support this exhibit as well as the Mississippi
Humanities Council.
Taylor has spent most of her life in or
near the Mississippi Delta. Working as a cook, nanny, field hand, and
housekeeper, she gained notoriety late in life when, after failing health
forced her to retire from strenuous physical labor, she began to quilt
for others as a source of income. In the late 1970s, Taylor’s late
aunt, Pecolia Warner, received attention for her own quiltmaking skills
from professors at the University of 
Mississippi.
They soon became aware of Taylor’s quilting, purchasing and exhibiting
her works. Widespread attention followed, as her works were purchased
for private collections and museums across the country.
Taylor continues to live in Yazoo City,
Mississippi.
"The gift I got, God gave to me,"
Taylor said.
From the age of nine she began to make quilts.
"I learned to piece by my mother," Taylor said.
The Sarah Mary
Taylor, Yazoo City Folk Artist exhibit is funded in part by the Mississippi
Humanities Council through the National
Endowment for the Humanities. Sarah Mary Taylor passed
away July 10, 2000.
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For more information, please contact: Yazoo
County Convention and Visitors Bureau |
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Web page designed by Margaret Bucci