On Sunday, August 11, 2024 1PM Eastern, Susan Curtis will be joining us for her virtual lecture The Needle’s Art: Women’s Embroideries from the Great Plains.
Registration for the LIVE virtual lecture only is now open to all EGA members for $5 and closes on August 9, 2024 1PM Eastern. This registration will not give you access to the recording of this lecture. Click here to register for the LIVE lecture. Registration for a recorded version of this lecture will happen separately at a later date for $5.
More about this virtual lecture
The Great Plains region of the United States is home to women from a wide range of cultural backgrounds. Each of these cultural groups embellished their lives with some form of embroidery, from the women of the Native American Plains tribes who created with quillwork and beads to the settlers who brought a variety of embroidery traditions with them to their new homes. Many of these embroideries are now found in history museums but have little information on the maker. Susan Curtis, curator of collections at the Emily Reynolds Historic Costume Collection at North Dakota State University, is working to uncover these anonymous women and bring their history and hand embroidery to light, illustrating the rich tradition of embroidery found in the Great Plains.
Susan Curtis is the curator of collections at the Emily Reynolds Historic Costume Collection at North Dakota State University in Fargo. This collection of over 5,000 objects documents the history of the region through the clothing and textiles made and used by the people who live there. Ms. Curtis earned a masters degree in Museum Studies with a minor in historic textiles from the University of Nebraska and has been working in museums for over twenty years. Her love of embroidery came from her grandmothers, who spent many patient hours teaching her to wield a needle and thread. Ms. Curtis earned a graduate certificate in Women and Gender Studies from NDSU and is currently working towards a PhD in History focusing on women’s embroidery in the Northern Great Plains.
Click here to register!
In Case You Missed It: Last year we announced changes to our Virtual Lecture Series process, which among other things includes an exciting update allowing up to 500 members to participate and a way to access some recordings of our virtual lectures!
Virtual lectures Coming Soon
Coming Soon: Measuring Millimeters on a Napoleonic-Era Dress Coat with Liz Tapper – Liz Tapper was commissioned in 2021 to recreate the embroidery for a military dress coat. The coat was to be a replica of that worn by one of Napoleon I’s aide de camps in the early 1800s in France – the original now held in a museum. It was to be worked in goldwork using a variety of metal threads and to very exacting dimensions. This is the story behind the process. Live Lecture Date: Saturday September 14, 2024 1PM Eastern Live Lecture Registration: August 19 – September 12, 2024 1PM Eastern Get a reminder!
Coming Soon: The Life and Art of Jessie Catherine Kinsley with Thomas Guiler — Born into the Oneida Community, Jessie Catherine Kinsley was raised amidst ideas of free-love, gender equality, and Perfectionism, by a group of people who believed they were bringing about heaven on earth. She lived through the tumultuous years of the breakup of the Community, entered into traditional family life, and became a regionally famous artist. Though she dabbled in many media including drawing, painting, poetry, and children’s books, she is most known for her braidings. Kinsley invented an artform that used discarded dresses and fabric to create gigantic braided mosaics that depicted scenes from literature, scripture, nature, and history. Live Lecture Date: Saturday October 19, 2024 1PM Eastern Live Lecture Registration: September 16 – October 17, 2024 1PM Eastern Get a reminder!
Coming Soon: An introduction to Early Medieval Embroidery in England with Dr. Alexandra Makin — In this 50-minute talk we will be introduced to the exciting world of early medieval embroidery in England. We will learn about the fibres used to make the thread and where they came from and the stitches used to create motifs, why they we used and their deeper, hidden meanings. Live Lecture Date: Saturday November 9, 2024 1PM Eastern Live Lecture Registration: October 21 – November 7, 2024 1PM Eastern Get a reminder!
Coming Soon: Pushing Boundaries: Embroidery + Book Arts with Celeste Chalasani — In this lecture, Celeste describes her journey as she explored combining embroidery with book art techniques for the National Academy of Needle Arts Teacher Cum Laude program. She’ll show you six different book binding methods she learned and how she has been able to use embroidery in her art practice. You’ll also see the tools and materials needed, as well as what worked and what didn’t. Live Lecture Date: Sunday, December 15, 2024 1PM Eastern Live Lecture Registration: November 18 – December 13, 2024 1PM Eastern Get a reminder!
Virtual Lecture Recordings Available
Recording Now Available: The Art and Story of Esther Nisenthal Krinitz with Bernice Steinhardt — Esther Nisenthal Krinitz was 15 in 1942 when Nazis ordered the Jews of her Polish village to report to a nearby train station. She chose to flee with her 13-year-old sister, never to see the rest of her family again. Decades later, determined to show her daughters the family she had lost, Esther created a series of 36 exquisite works of fabric collage and embroidery—a legacy of love, grief and the sheer force of memory. Get access to the recording!
Recording Now Available: Mediterranean Folk Embroidery: A Brief Tour of a Vibrant World with Krista West — Join designer and owner of Avlea Folk Embroidery, Krista West, as she takes us on a tour of folk embroidery in the Mediterranean world. Learn about the importance of textiles in the ancient world and how Classical and Byzantine motifs and colors made their way into folk embroidery. With her trademark energy and enthusiasm, Krista delights in sharing ancient beauty with the modern world! Get access to the recording!
Recording Now Available: Finding New Life: Innovative Finishing Techniques for Needlework with Patrick Barron — Searching for inspiration instead of stitching the same projects again? Don’t want to continue spending tons of money on framing and finishing? In “Finding New Life: Innovative Finishing Techniques for Needlework,” Patrick Barron shows you creative and unique ways to show off your stitching skills by repurposing things you have around the house. From stitching on colanders and finials to candy tins and cookie cutters, Patrick will walk you through how you can show off your needlework in a unique and environmentally friendly way. Patrick will go through some of his favorite projects and give you an overview of how he decides what new and exciting thing he will work on next. Get access to the recording!
Recording Now Available: Curiously Wrought – A Closer Look at Needleworked Buttons with Gina Barrett —Using thread to create and decorate buttons has a long history. This talk will look at the types of needlework found on buttons, with a focus on those found during the 19th century. We’ll take a look at examples in Gina Barrett’s collection, and discuss the people who made these little works of art. Get access to the recording!
Recording Now Available: Samplers of the Netherlands – or not! with Susan Greening Davis — Habsburg Netherlands, Dutch Republic, Batavian Republic, Kingdom of Holland, The Netherlands……so many names AND SO much needlework! From The Isle of Marken, Amsterdam, Black Samplers, and Friesland/Leeuwarden, to name a few. Darning, Stoplappen, Merklappen, and Stickmustertucher – Souvenir Sewing Rolls – such a wealth of samplers! The Dutch had very specific meanings for their motifs and what type of work was done in what region. Susan looks forward to sharing this with you. Recording now available!
