GULFPORT, Miss. (WLOX) - A Jackson artist’s quilt display at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College’s (MGCCC) Fine Art Gallery draws on the history of the Underground Railroad while reflecting her own path through mental health struggles.
Ravin Lovett created the exhibit, titled “Codes to Freedom,” to honor enslaved people who used quilts as secret maps to guide their escape.
“Freedom feels like it’s accessible, but someone had to pay the price,” Lovett said.
Each quilt pattern carried a hidden meaning used by enslaved people. “Bear Claws” meant to take the mountain path where bears roam to find food and water. “Bowtie” told enslaved people to dress like free people to avoid suspicion. “Flying Geese” directed them to follow birds heading north in spring.
“The quilts served a functional utilitarian purpose,” Lovett said. “They had coded messages that only the slaves knew.”
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Lovett is an art therapist with a master’s degree in art education. She learned to quilt from her grandmother. She said that skill became significant during her own difficult times growing up.
“I had issues with depression, anxiety,” Lovett said. “As I share my experience through my quilting, I’m hoping that will maybe help someone else deal with some issues they’ve had over the years.”
Lovett said she was bullied as a child. One quilt depicts her journey as a young girl and her path to healing. She stitched the 23rd Psalm into that piece.
“Not only my mental health journey but my journey into being more confident as a young woman as a believer in Jesus Christ,” Lovett said.
Gallery Director Cicely Cummings said the exhibit provides students with two layers of learning.
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“This has been a great exhibit to share with my fine art students because they’re getting a lesson about abstract art, and then they learn the deeper meaning of these pieces — that they were symbols used as a coded message during the Underground Railroad,” Cummings said. “The personal symbols she chose in her own work were a form of liberation for her as well. It helped her have freedom from her anxiety and depression and become the person she is today.”
“Codes to Freedom” runs through March 13 at the MGCCC Fine Arts Gallery on the Harrison County Campus. The exhibit is free and open to the public.
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