Threads of a Living Legacy: The Art of Marquetta Johnson is a tribute exhibition honoring the life and work of Atlanta artist and educator Marquetta Johnson (1956- 2025). The exhibition brings together a broad collection of quilts and textile works from different periods of her career, reflecting both the growth of her artistic practice and the impact she had on Atlanta’s creative community and beyond.

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EVENTS

Threads of a Living Legacy- Opening Reception

Sat. Sept 12, 2026, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM

The ArtsXchange, 2148 Newnan St, East Point, GA 30344, USA

FREE | Open to the public

RSVP

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The tribute exhibition brings together quilts and textile works spanning Johnson’s career, offering an intimate look at an artist whose practice grew from family tradition into a distinctive language of color, texture, pattern, and layered materials.

A vital force in Atlanta’s arts ecosystem, Johnson’s reach extended from the Neighborhood Arts Center to the High Museum of Art — where her work lives in the permanent collection — as well as the Alliance Theatre, Kennedy Center/VSA Arts, and the National AIDS Memorial Quilt. After surviving a shooting that left her paralyzed from the waist down, Johnson remained fiercely dedicated to youth arts education, community collaboration, and adaptive art-making. The exhibition extends outside of the galley to include Intersectionality, an illuminated wall sculpture Johnson co-created at ArtsXchange with artist Jeff Mather; a “touch gallery” for a sensory experience; and a video montage of archived reflections from collaborators, family, and peers.

Johnson also worked closely with the ArtsXchange over the years, from teaching youth arts classes to being one of the five women featured in Cover Me, a stunning 2024 exhibition of quilters and textile artists.