I rushed to my local post office last Friday to buy the Gee’s Bend quilts stamps. 
If you aren’t familiar with the quilts from Gee’s Bend, AL, I suggest you read about them. I can also highly recommend the documentary produced by PBS.
These are the ONLY art stamps to be issued for the rest of the year (except for the Madonna & Child at Christmas). Stock up while you can. They informed me that they usually sell out of the quilt stamps, which is why I was there bright and early on the day they were issued.
I guess the only thing I’m concerned about and don’t know if others are as well is that there are no artists’ names on the stamps. When other artists are given stamps, they have their names below the artwork and their bios on the back. Perhaps it was a decision to show these anonymously as a group.
Now, what can we do to get some more artists on US postage stamps??
5 thoughts on “Art Stamps Now Available”
I love stamps, thank you for posting about this, they look beautiful! It would be great fun to have more artists on Country wide stamp issues, for now there are services that allow you to create custom postage pals, that feature a piece of artwork to the left of the stamp. and other custom options. ~Rebecca
Hi, I saw this show at the MAM, Milwaukee Art Museum a couple of years ago. I went with my two oldest daughters and mother in law who is a quilter. It was amazing and still in aw. As an artist I always relate to the one learning tool that can push some one out of the box and into another realm. That is Limits, these women were limited with everything in their lives and look what they could do. Still to this day I can see them hanging with there stains and imperfect/perfect designs and some had holes. It really touched me. Now that is a display of art that will have an effect on me the rest of my life. ~v~Laura
Thanks for the heads up! I knew they were releasing these in the Fall, but I forgot to check. I’ve got a hefty supply now, just in time for an exhibit mailer – Great timing! 🙂 (And I DO wish they had names and bios… it was the first thing I looked for.)
I;m sorry I am posting long after this post was originally written. The Quilters of Gees Bend have certainly been marketed expertly. Unfortunately the artists, as it turns out, did not benefit as they should have. From our local paper: http://www.al.com/news/press-register/index.ssf?/base/news/1181035097167800.xml&coll=3 Its a pity they didn’t have an independent advisor when it came to the business end and doing up their contract.
Anne: That’s exactly as I suspected. I think it happens a lot to Outsider artists, who for some reason seem to be concentrated in the South. It’s a shame on one hand. On the other hand, the relatively small amount of money seems to be a godsend to many of the quilters. It will be interesting to see how all of this plays out. Thanks for sharing the article.