When an e-mail arrived from the Director of Marketing at the Florence Griswold Museum, asking me to help spread the word about their upcoming fall exhibit titled With Needle and Brush: Schoolgirl Embroidery from the Connecticut River Valley, a couple things popped into my mind: 1. To my knowledge, the exhibit’s been announced on at least two popular needlework websites already – Needleprint and Thistle Threads. People are going to see it as old news; and 2. FIELD TRIP!
As for point #1, though the exhibit has already been announced elsewhere, I still think it worthwhile to spread the word about it here. Even if only one person benefits from the announcement, that’s ok in my book.
As for point #2, a while back, I wrote about the Needle Arts high school course I’ll be teaching this year. For the past several weeks, I’ve been planning the course pretty much down to the week. But one thing that never occurred to me until I heard from the Florence Griswold Museum was that I have the Prime Opportunity for a field trip!
And then, of course, my mind started conceiving all kinds of possibilities.
Unfortunately, a trip from Kansas to Old Lyme, Connecticut, is probably not in the stars, but if we did live close, I wouldn’t miss this exhibit. The exhibit focuses on “the teaching and production of embroidered pictures by girls and young women in private academies during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.” The samplers display varying techniques and levels of difficulty, and are a great opportunity to see how needlework fit into the lives of young girls and ladies in America before and at the turn of the 20th century.
If you live in the area of Old Lyme, CT, do take the time to check out the Needle and Brush exhibit! Since I can’t take my class to see the exhibit, I may have to live vicariously through you! The exhibit runs from October 2, 2010 through January 30, 2011.
And in the meantime, you can bet I’m researching textile exhibits on this year’s calendar in the nearby Midwest! If you know of any exhibits, feel free to let me know!
