WESTPORT — A series of quilting exhibitions is now on view across multiple galleries at the Westport Library, inviting visitors to discover how the craft can connect different generations and areas.

The library is featuring “three distinct yet interconnected exhibits” that will be on display through March 17. The library has also scheduled two special events to complement the exhibition.

The Sheffer Gallery features the exhibition Building Bridges Through Storytelling, with showcases quilts from the Southern Connecticut Modern Quilt Guild. The quilts in these exhibit “reflect on shared experiences with a modern sensibility, from the pandemic to everyday acts of resilience.”

A Traveling Legacy: From Gee’s Bend to the Nutmeg State in the South Gallery traces the legacy of Dinah Miller, one of the first documented Gee’s Bend Quilters. Miller was captured from Africa and brought to America aboard the last slave ship, and her works preserve a history that winds its way from Benin to Alabama to Bridgeport.

The final exhibition, Building Bridges: A Community Quilt, is on display at the Jesup Gallery. This community quilt is a collaboration of the Southern Connecticut Modern Quilt Guild; quilters from Gee’s Bend, Alabama; and the Bridgeport Gee’s Bend community. The quilt will be added to The Westport Library’s permanent art collection.

Events associated with the exhibition include a reception at artist talk from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Jan. 15th for the Building Bridges Through Storytelling exhibition and a reception and community talk with Gee’s Bend descendants from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Jan. 31st.

For more information on the exhibitions, click here.