Carolyn Mazloomi


Carolyn L. Mazloomi (born August 22, 1948) is an American authorcurator and quilter. She is a strong advocate for presenting and documenting African-American-made quilts.

Carolyn L. Mazloomi is an artist, author, historian, and curator acknowledged as being among the most influential African American quilt historians in the United States.  She has produced an awe inspiring body of work, much of it containing references to African American life and history, as well as harkening back to a shared African ancestry.  Widely exhibited in the United States and internationally, her quilts have been included in five exhibitions at the Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery.  Her artwork can be found in numerous important museums and corporate collections, such as the Wadsworth Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, American Museum of Design, Bell Telephone, the Cleveland Clinic, and Exxon.  She has appeared on television shows such as CBS Morning Show, Reading Rainbow, The Today Show, CNN, and has been the subject of several film documentaries. Dr. Mazloomi is one of six artist commissioned to create artwork for the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center Museum.

Mazloomi was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to a family of amateur artists and painters. She graduated from Northrop University in Inglewood, California, and worked in Los Angeles as an aerospace engineer. In the early 1970s, she encountered an Appalachian quilt at a market in Dallas that began her passion for quilting. She continued her quilting experiments while earning her Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from USC in 1984.[1]

Mazloomi is now retired from her job as an aerospace engineer and Federal Aviation Administration crash site investigator. She lives in Ohio with her family.

To see images and read more about Carolyn Mazmooli go to:



Faith Ringgold honored Carolyn Mazloomi with the Anyone Can Fly Foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award on Sunday, June 29, 2014. Faith Ringgold also conducted an interview with Carolyn Mazloomi. You can see video clips from that interview below.


1.  Introduction and Picture your childhood.




2. What inspired your early career in science?




3. What made you change directions (into quilts)?




4. When did you realize that you were not only going to be a quilt maker but an important person in the quilt world?




5.What do you think about the art world today?
video 5




6. Where do you think things are going?
video 6





7. Why make quilts?







8. Q: How do you feel about racial identity?







9. Q: Would you tell us about your latest honor?  National Heritage Award. How did you transition from traditional quilts to your current style?






10. Q: Would you talk about the Madonna’s, rings, symbols and themes in your work?






11. Q: What is your process?







12. Q: What kind of batting do you use?


13. Q: What kind of fabric do you use? Why are the current works all exclusively in black and white?




14. Q: How do you keep the quilts so clean?






15. Q: Do you pre-plan your quilting design?







16. Q: Do you teach classes?






17. In 2009 CM curated an exhibition, Journey of Hope to celebrate President Obama’s Inauguration.

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