44 Circle St.
Asheville, NC
44 Circle St. is an oral history installation created by Angela D. LeBlanc-Ernest to document the history behind the quilts that hang in Calvary Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) at 44 Circle St. in the historic East End of Asheville, North Carolina. This oral history project documents the art of quilting, explores the stories reflected in the quilt blocks, and honors the lives of those whose names appear on the quilts.
Building Blocks
Use the buttons below to explore this project.
Calvary Church Quilts
Quilt History
Calvary Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) was founded in 1891 by Dr. Charles Bradford Dusenbury and was originally located on Eagle Street before relocating in 1926 to its current Circle St. location. As evidence of his commitment to education, Dusenbury, along with his wife, Lula Dusenbury, started the Dusenbury School at the church. It was a parochial school for African American children, operating 9 months each year from 1894 to 1927. Adults also attended because of the significant need for basic education. The quilt on the left commemorates the school’s existence. It is also the first quilt made and hung in the church. It tells a single story and exists as a single panel.
The seven (7) Calvary Church community quilts shown below are all a part of the second quilting project. Current church pastor Reverend Pat Bacon recalls that the larger quilt (center image) started as an outgrowth of a Vacation Bible School session during which attendees made handprint panels. The children expanded that, and then the broader church became involved. Interestingly, everyone on it has not necessarily joined the church. However, Rev. Bacon views the quilt as a reminder of who has come through the church building. Although there are many names on the quilts, not all the former pastors of the church are represented on the blocks.
These quilts are intergenerational community-based art projects that record history. Although they were made relatively recently, they tell a collective history of the church reaching back to 1894. The content of the quilt blocks on the large quilt and the six (6) panels reflects the church: a loving place, a diverse place, and a reflection of “whosoever will, let him come.”
Photo Credits:
Angela D. LeBlanc-Ernest
Oral Histories
Use the links below to hear Calvary Presbyterian Church Pastor, Reverend Patricia Bacon, and watch Mixed-Media Artist and Asheville resident, Jenny Pickens, talk about their involvement with the Calvary quilts, the role of quilting, and how they experienced community as a result of working on this project.
Listen to the audio below.
Photo Credit: Derrick Beasley
Watch the video below.
Photo Credit: Verhonda Crawford Diehl
Exhibit Installation
YMI Cultural Center, 39 S. Market St., Asheville, NC 28801
January 31, 2026 - March 20, 2026
Photo Credit: Angela D. LeBlanc-Ernest
44 Circle St., Asheville, NC
My mixed-media and multi-media oral history project draws on memory, history, artifacts, and first-person narrative and explores themes of intergenerational work, community, collective history, and the appearance and power of art in everyday life. I visited Calvary Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Asheville, NC, as a member of the Art of Soul Kollective. I was at once captivated by the church’s many windows – some open, others closed, some clear, some decorated, and others filled with stained glass that seemed to fill the building with colorful light and love. To capture that in the installation, I used a wooden window frame and added an original remnant sourced from an old church window in the church’s basement: the orange acrylic served as stained glass in the original window. Next, I noticed the numerous quilts hanging in the church’s main sanctuary. I was immediately transported back to my childhood, recalling the many quilts I had watched my grandmother make. The handwritten names on the Calvary quilt squares and the varied designs referenced stories I wanted to learn more about. At the time, all I could do was capture photographic images of the quilts. My use of silver wire and mini photo clips is my closest approximation of how the quilts hang in the church, and my use of cotton and broadcloth fabric remnants on the wood frame honors the quilting group’s use of remnant fabric to build their quilt blocks. The oral history installation (the project’s digital companion component) is my attempt to begin to surface the stories memorialized in fabric. In the end, my hope is that you visit these works of art and labors of love in person at 44 Circle St., Asheville, NC.
Artist: Angela D. LeBlanc-Ernest
Dimensions: 16.25 in. x 20 in.
Material: photographs, wood, acrylic, metal wire, silver wire, plastic photo clips, cotton and broadcloth fabric.
About the Artist
Angela LeBlanc-Ernest is a multi-media documentarian, oral historian, and research project director whose mixed-media art combines archival material, textiles, oral history, and digital platforms.
Build With Us
Visit the Quilts
The quilts hang in the main sanctuary of the church on 44 Circle St. In-person viewing offers close-ups of the quilting technique, block details, and names of the people on the quilt.
Photo Credit: Angela D. LeBlanc-Ernest
Project Partners
This project was supported by and benefited from work with the Art of Soul Kollective, LLC for the Art Earth and Soul Kollective exhibit funded by a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation.
Copyright © 2026 Angela D. LeBlanc-Ernest. All Rights Reserved.