souls grown deep like the rivers: black artists from the american southby emma yau, raina lampkins fielder, rebecca bray a wide ranging survey of black art in the american south, from thornton dial and nellie mae rowe to the quilters of gee's bend for generations, black artists from the american south have forged a unique art tradition. working in near isolation from established practices, they have created masterpieces in clay, driftwood, roots, soil, and recycled and cast off objects that articulate america's painful