Artwork Details
- Title
- We Are Not There Yet
- Artist
- Date
- 2012
- Location
- Dimensions
- 47 5⁄8 × 41 1⁄2 in. (121.0 × 105.4 cm)
- Credit Line
- Gift of Fleur S. Bresler
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- cotton fabric suede, organza, and cotton batting
- Classifications
- Subjects
- Figure group
- Abstract
- Allegory — civic
- Object Number
- 2023.40.20
Artwork Description
Gwen Maxwell-Williams
born 1947, Starkville, MS
died 2020, Redmond, WA
We Are Not There Yet
2012
cotton fabric suede, organza, and cotton batting
Gwen Maxwell-Williams designed this quilt to affirm the importance of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and to observe that workplace discrimination persists to this day. Maxwell-Thomas asks if we will ever get to a place where discrimination ceases to exist, adding “The pessimistic side of me continues to say, ‘No.’ America, prove me wrong!”
Established as a result of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the EEOC enforces civil rights laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee based on their race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth or related conditions, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age, and disability.
A pregnant figure, a figure kneeling to pray, a figure in a wheelchair, a figure using a walking cane, and a woman visualize all the people whose labor rights the EEOC is meant to protect.
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Fleur S. Bresler, 2023.40.20
We Gather at the Edge: Contemporary Quilts of Black Women Artists, 2025