A Sampling of Samplers
The Biggs Museum of American Art is excited to announce an upcoming exhibition and symposium of American needlework samplers, “Wrought with Careful Hand: Ties of Kinship on Delaware Samplers” March 7-April 20. A (needlework) sampler is a piece of embroidery produced as a demonstration or test of skill in needlework. It often includes the alphabet, figures, motifs, dates, decorative borders and sometimes the name of the person (and-or their family members’ names) who embroidered it. Most important, samplers are a rare window into the lives of girls and young women of early America. Sixty girlhood embroideries stitched in Delaware between 1755 and 1855 were selected for “Wrought with Careful Hand.” The samplers include historical information about family, friends and teachers stitched in silk as names, dates and initials, which illustrates the exhibition’s theme of kinship ties. Many of the samplers help to document several generations of family by including names or initials of parents, grandparents, siblings, and sometimes even great aunts and uncles. The samplers appear in one of six thematic groups, each highlighting an important geographic influence, a well-documented school or teacher, or a distinctive way in which the samplers record kinship. The Biggs Museum partnered with the University of Delaware’s Sampler Archive Project and the international Sampler Consortium on a statewide initiative to find, document, and photograph schoolgirl samplers in Delaware’s public and private collections. Three Sampler ID Days were held last summer, leading to the discovery of many new samplers in private collections. Collaborating partners include dozens of museums, historical societies and historic homes, as well as individual owners, collectors and dealers from across the country. The result is one special show. The exhibition includes a three-day Sampler Symposium from March 21-23. A full day of free lectures is planned for March 22, accompanied by paid needlework classes, research classes and field trips to see sampler collections. Register soon. biggsmusuem.org
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Jan. 17 |
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Jan. 17-18 |
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The Delaware College of Art and Design hosts its 10th Drawing Marathon, an intensive, 12-hour figure drawing event that is open to both beginner and advanced artists. Bring your own supplies. Stay an hour or two–or for all 12… More |
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Jan. 18-19 |
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Jan. 18-20 |
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[IN Wilmington Promotional Pick of the Week] How do rockets and aircraft defy gravity? Zoom to Invention Convention 2014 at Hagley Museum, when your family can explore the force, thrust, drag and motion of aerodynamics and aeronautics through fun, hands-on activities. It’ll be a blast (off). More |
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Jan. 19 |
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Serafin String Quartet returns to Kennett Flash for Musical Passport to Many Lands, a one-hour tour of the musical world, with selections by Mozart, Shostakovich, Dvorak, and Higdon. Heavenly... More |
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Jan. 20 |
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Celebrate the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. during African American Champions of Nature at the Delaware Museum of Natural History. The activities will leave you filled with compassion for your fellow man and beast... More |
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Jan. 21 |
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