In a major new exhibition, the Orange County Regional History Center will demonstrate how heart, handcraftsmanship and history are intertwined. By Heart and By Hand will feature 37 objects by seven accomplished African American artists whose work is as much story as art.
The pieces will include embroidery by Teighlor Johnson; quilts by Linda Mills-Alexander and Lisa G. Moore; wearable art by Na’ah Gordon; African-derived musical instruments by Eddie Osborne; wood sculptures by Winston Andrews; and doll fashions by Carmen Nibbs.
All but Osborne, who is from Miami, are Central Floridians. Osborne, a master craftsman who was selected for the state’s Folklife Apprentice Program, was introduced to folk instruments as a child in Georgia and continued his study locally and abroad.
By Heart and By Hand grew out of a 2024 project in partnership with the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and was designed to connect Black artists with local museums and arts organizations as a way to preserve their cultural heritage.
“In working with the artists, I was struck by a common thread that all shared: their personal and ancestral histories were a core inspiration for all of them,” says Katie Kelley, the center’s curator of exhibitions.
Five artists who participated in the Smithsonian project will have their work showcased in By Heart and By Hand, while excerpts from previously recorded oral histories will be available at an interactive listening station.
Heritage quilter Lisa G. Moore traces ancestral waterways, homesteads and historic communities in repurposed textiles. She says: “They’re my family stories, but they are human stories—and we all connect to them on different levels.”
