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The art exhibition “The Quilt of Time” premiered Saturday for the first time in Downtown Selma, bringing a multitude of residents together to experience an immersive exploration of time through art, created by Selma resident and artist Anne Strand.

Strand, alongside Selma Artist Tres Taylor, brought the event’s opening day to life in the heart of downtown within the historic “Harmony Club” building, marking the event as a gift to Selma just before the holidays.

Strand said “The Quilt of Time” exhibition is a retrospective view of her life’s journey that includes Selma and said one of the art pieces of the exhibit displays the pathway perfectly of her journey, called The Four Quartets of T.S. Eliot Poem.

The artwork behind T.S.Eliot’s poem, displays the unfolding of the journey one has, similar to the unfolding of a ribbon along the horizon, stringing moments together to form the narrative of our collective past, according Strand’s event pamphlet.

It also includes a quilt piece, marking the point where time converges, by each single stitch.

“It is layered and pieced together to form a pattern or a tapestry,” Strand said. “Each piece, is meaning something different, something particular, something universal, and is connected by the tiny stitches of each passing moment.”

About 80 art pieces were displayed within the exhibit’s event, that consisted of multiple variations of artwork from Strand including the “Spanning Selma Bridge” and the “Selma at Sunrise” painting.

Nearing the end of the exhibit’s opening day, Selma-Dallas County Public Library director Becky Nichols received the Selma at Sunrise painting from Strand as a gift for Selma, to allow residents who attend the library to take in the art visually and to remember the pieces that bring the city together.

Strand said 10% of the proceeds from the show also went to Pastor John E. Grayson’s Winston- Williams Homeless Shelter in Selma.

Those who are still interested in seeing and taking a tour of “The Quilt of Time” exhibition can visit The Harmony club on Water Ave. on Tuesday, Nov. 26 and Friday, Nov. 29 from 3 to 5 p.m.

Continuing on Dec. 1, Strand will continue the artistic conversation by having an artist roundtable called “Old Enough”, held from 3 to 5 p.m., that will be based off the book that features southern women artists and writers on creativity and aging.  The round table will include Strand, Sara Armstrong, Patricia Gaines, and Jeanie Thompson.