Behind-the-Scenes Tour: “Painted with Silk: The Art of Early American Embroidery" at the DIA

^{Unidentified maker from Mrs. Lydia Bull Royse's School, "The Finding of Moses" (c. 1810), Hartford, Connecticut}

Let's go behind the scenes in the Painted with Silk: The Art of Early American Embroidery at the DIA!  Join us for a very special afternoon, beginning with remarks and a panel discussion moderated by Kenneth Myers, Byron & Dorothy Gerson Curator and Department Head of American Art at the DIA.  Myers will lead a conversation with several of the private collectors who have loaned embroideries for the exhibition, including about their Jewish connections. Finish your experience by visiting the gallery with a self-guided walking tour, during which Myers and the collectors will be on hand to answer questions.

Host Committee:

Barbara Cohn

Sharon & Jeffrey Lipton

Susie & Michael Payne

Reva & Bob Rosen

Anita & Louis Schwartz

About the Exhibit (on view December 13, 2024 - June 15, 2025): 

From the 1600s until about 1830, the education of American girls emphasized reading, writing, and embroidery. For girls whose families could afford to send them to school, a finely worked embroidery which was worthy of being framed for display in her home served as a kind of diploma. It evidenced both her mastery of an important practical skill and the diligence and self-discipline that society expected of its more privileged members.

The content and style of American schoolgirl embroideries varied across both time and place. Painted with Silk features unusually beautiful and well-preserved examples of this inherently fragile art in order to explore the cultural values and norms that schoolgirl embroidery was used to teach.

Painted with Silk will also include contemporary embroideries by artist Elaine Reichek. Reichek repurposed the form of the older embroideries in order to expose and criticize assumptions about gender, class, and race that they expressed and reinforced.

REGISTER HERE

PLEASE NOTE: Parking not included.  Parking options include the DIA lot off John R ($7/vehicle) or metered street parking