After a work project to create a cloth banner for an exhibition in 1973, Cummings discovered his love for working with fabric and taught himself to quilt by studying the works of local quilters and how-to quilt magazines and books.[2]
Cummings was in a pilot program that created the Studio in a School program in the 1970s. Philanthropist Agnes Gund funded the program and visited the artists many times.[citation needed]
Cummings quilts in the narrative, story-telling tradition and is one of a few nationally known male quiltmakers. His work often features bright, colorful African themes and African American historical themes. Major quilt series include the "African Jazz" series (1990), the "Haitian Mermaid" series (1996), and the "Josephine Baker" series (2000).
The U.S. State Department has posted several of Cummings' quilts in its embassies (Rwanda and Mali) through its Art in Embassies program.[3] Brands such as Absolut Vodka and HBO have commissioned his work,[1] and his work is held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Arts and Design in New York,[4] among others. Whoopi Goldberg and Bill Cosby collect Cummings' quilts.
^Hicks, Kyra E. (2003). Black Threads: An African American Quilting Sourcebook. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. ISBN9780786413744. OCLC50279954.
