Labor of Love: One of Peggie Hartwell's collaborations with the students at Summerville High School, depicting a vibrant outdoor market.
SOUTHERNSPOTLIGHT Peggie Hartwell: Art
Patchwork Stories Using bits of fabric, artist Peggie Hartwell lends her talents to amplify voices that need to be heard.
T
by Jana Riley
oday’s world is filled with conversation. Social media allows people to say whatever is on their mind, whenever they want to say it, and so they put it out into the world, often multiple times a day. The twenty-four-hour news cycle ensures that there is always someone talking when you turn on your television or radio, whether you like it or not. There are seemingly limitless ways to add your thoughts, opinions,
and stories to society, but for some, theirs get lost among the louder, the bolder, or the more well-connected. A talented artist and compassionate person, Summerville resident Peggie Hartwell is dedicated to assisting those whose voices are often unheard, telling their stories through intricate narrative quilts. Peggie Hartwell’s introduction to the world of quilting and storytelling began at an early age. Growing up on a farm in rural Springfield, South Carolina, Hartwell was surrounded by her extended family. Some of her first memories include all of the women in her family sitting around quilting together, spending their days creating a usable work of art, which they would eventually gift to someone in need within the community. She looked up to her grandfather, who, in her mind, was the greatest storyteller in the world, weaving grand tales with his family gathered around him, hanging onto every word. When the family took part in the Great Migration of the 1940s and 50s, they moved north, settling in Brooklyn, New York. Hartwell was just six years old, and her prior education occured in a three-room country schoolhouse. This new world was filled with immigrants from countless countries, exposing young Hartwell to a host of cultures, customs, and cuisines. Surrounded by people all living in unfamiliar territory, Hartwell began to understand how easy it is to feel voiceless, as she herself struggled with feeling connected to her new home in the big city. Looking back on those early days, Spring 2019 AZALEAMAG.COM
39
