The story of the Wilcox County’s Gees Bend quilters has circled the globe and come home again to add beauty to everyday life. The quilts of these wonderful ladies now hang in the Smithsonian Museum and are recognized as unique expressions of the artistic talent of each of its creators. However, these quilts and these women are but one of the stories of “found” artists in the Black Belt. The art traditions of the Black Belt region primarily began as an expression of creative activity and necessity. The people of the Black Belt began to “take what they had” and create expressions of themselves, their environments and the landscapes around them. The outgrowth spawned wonderful artistry from beautiful oil, acrylic, and watercolor paintings, exquisitely hand-sewn quilts and apparel, expertly crafted pottery, finely painted china pieces, ornamentally crafted birdhouses, finely turned pieces of native wood crafted as decorative home accessories, beautifully built pieces of furniture, wonderfully woven basketry of white oak, kudzu and wisteria, delicately woven textiles, to “found art” created from items of everyday use. Charlie Lucus, “The Tin Man” of Selma is quite famous for creating whimsical sculptures out of metal gathered form scrap yards. In Perry County, Allen Ham has been recognized for his unique take on pottery. Andrew McCall of Lehatchee creates one-of-a-kind pieces of furniture from wisteria vines, and James Cockrell of Sumter County turns native woods such as mock orange and hickory into furniture to be enjoyed by several generations. Some of the Black Belt’s woodworkers, such as Winky Hicks in Clarke County and Burton Fuller of Emelle, Alabama, create wonderful musical instruments in the forms of mandolins and dulcimers. Estelle Jackson in Marengo County continues the tradition of split oak basketmaking taught to her by her father and his grandfather before him. The rich traditional crafts and folk arts of the region have given rise to annual festivals that celebrate these artists and their talents. Local citizens and visitors alike enjoy events such as the Black Roots Heritage Festival, Rural Heritage Days, the Sucarnochee Folklife Festival, and Moundville’s Native American Festival. From these events, the desire to have places for artists to showcase their creations all year long, emerged. As a result, economic initiatives, such as Black Belt Treasures and the Rural Heritage Center, have opened as artistic cooperatives in which artists can work with others to get their products out to consumers. Black Belt Treasures in Camden, Alabama, features more than 250 artists and sells merchandise world-wide through a thriving internet retail outlet. In addition, these cooperatives offer locations for the artists to pass along their crafts and share their talents with the public through workshops and summer camp programs. The quilts are but one thread in the overall fabric that forms the stories of the craftsmen and artists of the Black Belt.