Sew Gee’s Bend Heritage Builders has received a $50,000 grant through a national funding program.
Based in Boykin, Sew Gee’s Bend Heritage Builders is a community-based non-profit organization that preserves artistic traditions, expands income-generating opportunities, encourages entrepreneurship and fosters skill development.
The US Regional Arts Organizations (USRAO) announced the grant recipients of Walking Together: Investing in Folklife in Communities of Color on Jan. 13. A total of $3.34 million was awarded to 96 grantees. Sew Gee’s Bend Heritage Builders is one of 56 organizations to receive a $50,000 grant.
All states and jurisdictions have at least one recommended grantee. More than 2,000 organizations and artists applied for Walking Together funding in 2025.
According to the grant announcement, Sew Gee’s Bend Heritage Builders will use the funds to hire a salaried executive director and to prevent “the brain drain so often associated with remote communities that seem to present few opportunities.”
“Receiving this grant validates the ongoing work of Sew Gee's Bend Heritage Builders to create paths to success and improve quality of life for the entrepreneurs and other residents of Gee's Bend, and to empower them to follow their dreams and support their community in a sustainable way,” said Claudia Pettway Charley, co-founder of Sew Gee's Bend Heritage Builders Sew Gee’s Bend Heritage Builders.
In the announcement, USRAO said, “The ability to maintain the extraordinary programs already underway in a community most would describe as ‘under resourced’ while adding new infrastructure and avenues for growth represents an enormous opportunity to benefit a community that has persevered through centuries of hardship to create works that testify to the endurance of the human spirit in the face of adversity.”
Walking Together: Investing in Folklife in Communities of Color supports folklife and traditional arts by investing in artists/practitioners and the community organizations that care for them.
Claudia Pettway Charley thanked Paul Barrett for working through the grant application process and co-founder Tinnie Dell Pettway for making land and historic buildings in Gee’s Bend available for year-round projects.
In addition to its work in Gee’s Bend, Sew Gee’s Bend Heritage Builders works with museums, galleries and corporations to craft exhibitions, workshops, and other professional development strategies to promote the legacy of Gee’s Bend.
Sew Gee's Bend Heritage Builders is a co-presenting partner of the annual Airing of the Quilts in Gee’s Bend scheduled on Oct. 3.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.