An exhibition featuring quilts that celebrate African-American traditions of jazz and blues music is currently on display in the Chelsea Gallery of the A.K. Hinds University Center in conjunction with Western Carolina University’s CulloWHEE! ArtsFest.

The exhibit will be on display until Wednesday, July 3. It is free and open to the public.

The quilts, by artist Carolyn Mazloomi, chronicle African-American history and culture with an emphasis on music, particularly blues, jazz and gospel. The exhibit is on loan from Connell Gallery in Atlanta.

Mazloomi received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northrope University and a doctoral degree in aeronautics from the University of Southern California. She has more than a decade of experience in the fields of aviation and engineering.

A quilt exhibit she saw in the 1970s inspired Mazloomi to explore quilting and eventually change careers. Her work is now in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution, Quilter’s Hall of Fame, Los Angeles African-American Museum, the Mint Museum of Craft and Design, and the American Craft Council.

In 1985, Mazloomi founded the Women of Color Quilter’s Network, an organization that has led to the recognition of the diversity of quilting styles in the African-American community. She is the author of “Spirits of the Cloth: Contemporary African American Quilts.”

The exhibit will be open during normal gallery hours and during the hours of the CulloWHEE! ArtsFest, Friday and Saturday, June 14-15. The CulloWHEE! ArtsFest is a weekend celebration of fine arts and jazz music featuring national recording stars the Manhattan Transfer, David Sanborn, Joe Sample and Bio Ritmo. For more information, call 828.227.7722 or click on-line at www.cullowheeartsfest.com.