News & Events

Lauren Austin Exhibit & Events

Quilting Our History: An Exhibit of Quilts by Lauren Austin

Join the Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies for an exhibit of quilts by Lauren Austin, a Florida-based storytelling artist who has worked for over 30 years in the medium of quilts. Austin’s work merges her own life story with that of Black history and cultural memory. Her quilts are large-scale mixed media pieces, incorporating photographic processes, stone lithograph, beading, hand-stitching, and hand-dyed fabrics.

The exhibit opens on February 12, 2024 in CMC 202 on the Tampa campus of USF, and runs through September 23, 2024. CMC is located at 12010 USF Cherry Dr, Tampa, FL 33620.

Exhibit hours during the summer semester are on Wednesdays from 10am-4pm.

To schedule an appointment to see the exhibit, both for individuals and groups, email us.

Disability Accommodations: If you require a reasonable accommodation to participate in a Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies event, please contact 813-974-0982 at least five (5) working days prior to the event.

upcoming events

Care & Joy Through Art: A Protection Blueprint

September 23, 2024, 3:30-4:45pm
Location TBA

Quilting Our History Closing Reception with Special Guest Lauren Austin

September 23, 2024, 6:00-7:30pm
RSVP required; location TBA

Past Events

Make Story Artbooks Workshop 

February 21, 2024, 2:00-4:30PM
Workshop is at-capacity

Hands-on workshop led by Lauren Austin. Workshop participants will use Lauren’s method of making an origami book collage with fabric scraps, paper, and drawing to preserve a memory or a story from your life. All supplies, including dyed fabrics and African fabrics from Lauren's collection, will be provided. This workshop is for all skill levels - the only rule is to have fun.

Disability Accommodations: If you require a reasonable accommodation to participate in a Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies event, please contact Jennifer Ellerman-Queen at 813-974-5520 at least five (5) working days prior to the event.

My Journey Through Art Quilting: Public Lecture 

February 22, 2024 at 6:00PM in CMC 130 (12010 USF Cherry Dr, Tampa, FL 33620)

Lecture by Lauren Austin. Open to the public. 

Lauren will show the development of her art over the 30+ years of her career through works in-progress and pieces from early in her practice, talk about what keeps her making art and important themes in her work, including womanism, and discuss how you can find the time to tell your own story through art.

Limited free parking will be available for non-USF guests in marked parking spots only in lot 2A. Paid metered parking is also available in Lot 2A at a rate of $1.50/hour.

Disability Accommodations: If you require a reasonable accommodation to participate in a Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies event, please contact Jennifer Ellerman-Queen at 813-974-5520 at least five (5) working days prior to the event.

About Lauren Austin

"I made my first quilt when I was 7 years old and have been quilting ever since. I worked as a Foreign Service Officer for the US State Department and later as a human rights lawyer. While I worked in the Foreign Service and in law, I made art nights and weekends.  I took the plunge in 2004 to create art full-time.
 
I use photos, my dyed, printed, and painted fabric to make my portraits of black life. I use different methods to add designs to my work, including retro photo-chemical processes, block printing, and lithography to create complex surface design.
 
Over the past 3 years I have been learning wood block and linoleum block carving and print making with Jennifer Harper of Harper Printmaking Studio in Eustis.  By press printing my designs on fabric, I have a different method to add interest to my quilts.
 
Many of my quilts contain natural elements – leaves, flowers, birds, and animals. I want to create work that shows the relationship of black people with the natural world. 
 
Making art helps me to understand my memories and feelings while making something beautiful.  Art contains stories of the artist but also has room for the viewers’ stories. For me, the process of creation, exhibition and audience involvement add value and meaning to my world. I hope you enjoy my work.
 
Art is for life!"