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
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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
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Southern California Council of Quilt Guilds
Studio Art Quilt Associates
Modern Quilt Guild
Arts Council Menifee
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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
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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
