Allyson Allen
Textile Artist * Author * Instructor * Curator
Artivist * Culture Bearer
KUUMBA (Creativity) To do always as much as we can, in the way we can , in order to leave our community more beautiful and benefical than when we inherited it.
Get Inspired * Learn something New * Have Fun!
B.S. from Oregon College of Education
M.S. and Teaching Credentials from the University of Southern California
Professional Artist Organizations:
GRANTS * RESIDENCIES * AWARDS
Golden Scissors Award for Social Impact/Craft Industries Alliance - 2024
Culture Bearer Designation/Center for Cultural Power, California Arts Council - 2023
7 Degrees of Inspiration/Laguna Beach Arts Alliance Award - 2019
The Pollination Project Award - 2018 & 2022
Alliance for California Traditional Arts Master/Apprentice Program - 2001, 2003, 2006, & 2016
California Traditional Music Society & City of Los Angeles L.A. Treasures Awards - 2003 - 2008
ACTA Traditional Arts Development Award - 2003 & 2013
Los Angeles Dept. of Cultural Affairs AIR - 2004, 2005, 2008
Puffin Foundation Visual Artist Award - 2010, 2015, & 2023
California Arts Council AIR - 1993 through 1999 with California Youth Authority SoCal Facilities
Southern California Council of Quilt Guilds
Studio Art Quilt Associates
Modern Quilt Guild
Arts Council Menifee
Exhibiting and teaching for over thirty years,I use traditional and unconventional materials to create unique dimensional textile art. I create pieces specifically for storytelling, folklore and cultural preservation. Practicing learned and self-taught techniques of craft, research, original design, history and culture, in traditional and contemporary pieces, exemplifying a cross-disciplinary approach to quilting, doll making, and book art. My handmade quilts and quilted journals usually incorporate recycled materials, fabric, found objects, and stitched paper elements.
*Information on this page is art specific. My complete public and private school teaching experience and extensive community service work are not included below.
PUBLICATIONS/MEDIA
Crafting Democracy * Fiber Arts and Activism - the book by Julie Decker and Hinda Mandell
Time Warner Cable "So Cal's Best" Black History Month Video On Demand
And Still We Rise...Race, Culture and Visual Conversations - the book by Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi
Quilted Pages - Story Art Quilts - the book by Allyson Allen
CLOTH * PAPER * STITCH & GLUE - Mixed Media Projects & Altered Book Art - the book by Allyson Allen
Conscience of the Human Spirit: The Life of Nelson Mandela - the book by Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi
SELECTED MULTI-PIECE, SOLO & SPECIAL EXHIBIT HISTORY
SPEAK - 2025 Laguna Beach Cultural Arts Center
Spirit Possession - 2024 Orange County Center for Contemporary Art
Modern My Way - 2024 All Mancuso Show venues (solo special exhibit)
75% Heart - 2023 All Mancuso Show venues (solo special exhibit)
Piece-ful Protest - 2022 All Mancuso Show venues (solo special exhibit)
Global Quilting Styles - 2021 All Mancuso Show venues (solo special exhibit)
PIECE-FUL PROTEST QUILTS & SLOGAN JOURNALS - 2020/21 Ontario and Laguna Beach, California
Pieces In Time - 2020 Edward Dean Museum, Cherry Valley, California
Inspired – 2019 New England, Pennsylvania, California (solo special exhibit)
DVAC Fiber Arts Showcase -2018 DVAC Gallery, Hemet, CA. Exhibiting artist and curator
Diversity and Inclusion: The Influence of African American Art in California - 2018 Ontario Museum of History & Art, California
Comic Book Icons of Color - 2018 New England, Pennsylvania, California (solo special exhibit)
Responses to Gee’s Bend – 2018 Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania
Crafting Democracy * Fiber Arts and Activism - 2018 thru 2021 New York, Ohio, New Jersey, and Virginia
Modern Quilts: Redesigning Traditions - 2017 Ontario Museum of History & Art, California
Patchwork Pundits Take on Politics - 2017 The Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, Golden, Colorado
Black History Quilts - 2017 The Merc Theater Gallery, Temecula, California (solo exhibit)
QUILTBEAST - 2017 San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, California, New England, and Pennsylvania
Quilted Pages : Story Art Quilts - 2016 Temecula Valley Museum, California (solo exhibit)
New Black - 2016's Largest Solo Artist Quilt Exhibit, African American Performing Arts Center, Albuquerque, NM
Cloth & Paper : Quilts & Altered Book Art - 2016 Temecula Valley Museum, California (solo exhibit)
Politically Incorrect - 2016 New England, Pennsylvania, California (solo special exhibit)
Stitches: Contemporary Fiber Art - 2015 Cummings Gallery, Mercyhurst University, Erie, Pennsylvania
Maya Angelou - A Phenomenal Woman - 2015 All Mancuso Show venues (solo special exhibit)
Gee's Bend Revisited - Two Decades Later - 2014 All Mancuso Show venues (solo special exhibit)
Sheroes - Influential Women In History - 2013 Virginia, Denver, New England, and Pennsylvania
Emancipation To Inauguration -2012 Virginia, New Jersey, Denver, New England, Pennsylvania, and California (solo exhibit)
Quilted Pages - A Storyteller's Quilts - 2011 Virginia, New Jersey, Denver, New England, Pennsylvania, and California (2013 *solo)
Wanderer Ship - International Artists' Slide Exhibit - 2011 Belarus
Black Quilters of Southern California - 2008 Kellogg Gallery, Cal Poly University, Pomona, California
Walking on the Same Path - A Three Woman Show - 2007 Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles, California
Diamond Valley Museum Grand Opening - 2006 Inland Empire, California
First Place - Best Hand Workmanship
Mid Century Modern
Pacific International Quilt Festival 2015
Work also featured in...
Water Is Life: Clean Water and It's Impact on the Lives of Women and Girls Around the World - 2016 through 2019
International traveling exhibit, premiering at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland followed by up to six United Nations headquarters.
And Still We Rise...Race, Culture and Visual Conversations - 2013 through 2018
National multi-museum traveling exhibit, premiering at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center - Cincinnati, Ohio
Conscience of the Human Spirit: The Life of Nelson Mandela - 2014 through 2018
International multi-museum traveling exhibit, premiering at the International Quilt Conference Africa and Nelson Mandela Museum - Johannesburg, South Africa
