Exhibits

Showcasing the Needlearts

Throughout the country, there are numerous museums and exhibits highlighting different aspects of the needlearts.  Here are a few brought to our attention by our members.  If you have information about other interesting shows, please contact us so that we can help spread the word.

Needle/Work - Art, Craft, and Industry in a Port City
The New Bedford Whaling Museum
now through 2008
18 Johnny Cake Hill • New Bedford, MA 02740-6398
508-997-0046

Sponsored by Coby Foundation, the William M. Wood Foundation, Sovereign Bank, New Bedford Thread, Matouk Textile Works, Denise De More, with additional support from Swan Sampler Guild and Joseph Abboud Manufacturing Corp.

The exhibition is intended to bring new attention to the regions textile heritage and expand the understanding of the interconnectedness and multicultural character of the whaling and textile industries.

In contrasting and comparing needlework as household pastime with needlework as occupation, this exhibition will reveal how and where the worlds of consumption and production in the needle arts and trades overlapped and intersected during the height of the whaling industry.  Needlework pursuits enhanced and sustained personal and family relationships, built and supported communities, and linked diverse cultures.

In June of 2008, the museum is hosting a symposium (June 12-15). There are some wonderful programs planned (you can see the scheduled here: Needle Work and the Sea Symposium

Needlework as an art, craft, and industry has played a significant role in the history of New Bedford and its environs.  The plying of needle and thread – whether domestic or commercial, for ornamental or utilitarian purposes – symbolizes the impact of whaling both as a source of wealth and a means of subsistence.  The lives and work of merchants’ and captains’ wives and daughters; seamstresses, dressmakers, and tailors; embroiderers and knitters; sail- and flag-makers; and the whalemen who carved exquisite scrimshaw needlework tools for the women in their lives, demonstrate the complexities and contradictions inherent in the domestic ideal and working realities of needlework.

The New Bedford Whaling Museum is the largest museum in America devoted to the history of the American whaling industry and its greatest port. Through exhibits, publications, and programs, the Museum brings to life the whaling era and the history of the local area. It houses the most extensive collection of art, artifacts, and manuscripts pertaining to American whaling in the age of sail - late eighteenth century to the early twentieth, when sailing ships dominated merchant trade and whaling.

Pricked: Extreme Embroidery
Museum of Arts & Design
November 8, 2007 - April 27, 2008
40 West 53rd Street • New York, NY 10019
212-956-3535

Pricked: Extreme Embroidery is the Museum of Arts & Design’s latest exploration into how centuries-old handcraft traditions are rejuvenated in the mainstream of contemporary art and design. The artists are both men and women from countries as diverse as Transylvania, Egypt, Wales, Mexico and the Netherlands, as well as the U.S. Chosen to showcase the diversity of approaches to this standard needleworking technique, the works in Pricked: Extreme Embroidery also convey powerful and personal content that ranges from subjective dreams and diaries to controversial politics in today’s world. . . 

 LACIS Museum of Lace and Textiles
2982 Adeline Street • Berkley, CA 94703
510-843-7290

Established in 2004, the museum houses an extensive collection of textile treasures.  Coming primarily from Kaethe and Jules Kliot's private collection, examples range from the pre-Columbian period to the industrial revolution.  The collection represents over 40 years of dedication to the preservation of the finest of human handiwork.  A 10,000 item resources library includes books, as well as patterns, tools and ephemera.

In addition to the fabulous array of parasols, hankies, crinolines, vintage clothing and bolts of lace, the museum also displays exhibits throughout the year.  Just ended was "Needle Lace."  The next exhibit "Media and Costume" will run from March 31 through August 2, 2008.

The museum, dedicated to the memor of Kaethe Kliot, is a non-profit corporation [501(c)3] and is supported by sales from the Museum Shop and contributions from Lacis Wholesale.

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