About the Event

Firsthand Experiences bring contemporary creators together with learners ages 13 and older for hands-on programs that combine creative arts, conversations, and discovery.

About the workshop series: Explore concepts and techniques inspired by works in Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California. Each workshop in the series will explore different works and ways of making. Attend one or multiple sessions! All materials will be provided; no experience necessary.

Join Baltimore-based fiber artist Kianga Jinaki to celebrate the living tradition of quilting and engage in meditative making. Jinaki will cover basic design elements as well as some of her favorite stitches, knots, fabrics, and embellishments for creating your small quilt. The entire quilt project will be slow-stitched (sewn by hand). Art supplies provided; no experience necessary. For ages 13 and older.

About the Instructor

Kianga Jinaki is a dynamic, self-taught fiber artist whose works celebrate Black life and culture. Since the 1990s, she has created dolls, quilts and mixed-media works inspired by folklore, music, poetry, history, and spirituality. Her contemporary folk-art style incorporates hand-sewing, quilting, hand-dyed fabrics, photography, appliqué and embellishments.

Jinaki’s quilt, All My Dreams Started in East Baltimore (2021) won third place in the 2026 Homage to Baltimore Quilt Competition, sponsored by the Mayor’s Office of Baltimore. She is a 2022 recipient of the Artist Innovation Fellowship, from the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, Florida. Jinaki’s works have been shown both nationally and internationally. With more than 30 years of experience as a teaching artist in South Florida, she returned to her hometown of Baltimore in 2025.

Workshop Series

• 9/19/2026 Firsthand Experience: Collage (sold out)
• 10/10/2026 Firsthand Experience: Hand Stitching
• 11/14/2026 Firsthand Experience: Appliqué All Day

Questions? Email education@nmwa.org.