Brewer uses symbolism and hand-textured fibers to create story quilts that are motivated by issues focusing on the family, women, children and spirituality. By incorporating oral history and world cultures into her quilts, she says she is trying to “substantiate the use of symbols as children establish their personal memories of family experiences and dreams for the future. She is a member of the Fiber Arts Guild and Women of Vision, an emeritus board member of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh and a board member of the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts/Pittsburgh Filmmakers. With its obvious reference to the early colonial slave trade and reliance upon slave labor, it harkens not only to the history of African Americans but to the history of story quilts themselves. The stark figures Brewer uses to represent field workers are reminiscent of the figures once used by Harriet Powers (1837-1910), a black slave from rural Georgia who became a renowned folk artist for her quilts, which incorporated traditional applique techniques to record biblical and oral stories. Incorporating pages from the newspaper, the quilts use photo images and historical references from each decade to create powerful visual images of the impact of African-American history locally and nationally.

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