Would you like to start your morning with some coffee, pastries, and a dash of American history? Then join us the first Friday of every month for our new Coffee with a Curator series! Every month the DAR Museum curators will highlight different objects in our Study Gallery collection, providing insights, pointing out significant details, and answering questions. This unique, informal environment provides the opportunity for in-depth, intimate conversations with curators about objects within their specialty.

In order to facilitate meaningful conversation and close-looking, this program is capped at 15 attendees. Tickets are FREE, but please register in advance to secure your spot! Coffee, tea, and pastries provided for all program participants.

This month, join Alden O’Brien, Curator of Costumes and Textiles, in conversation about quilts in the DAR Museum collection, with a special focus on objects relating to our new exhibition A Piece of Her Mind: Culture & Technology in American Quilts.

Grab a cup and let’s start the conversation.

Nineteenth century quilts often reflect women’s interests in popular culture, literature, and even politics (despite not yet having the vote!). Find out how these topics show up in American quilts of the 19th and early 20th century based on examples in the current exhibit A Piece of Her Mind: Culture & Technology in American Quilts.

Speaker: Alden O’Brien, Curator of Costume and Textiles, DAR Museum

How do 19th century quilts show their makers’ awareness of contemporary design trends and access to the latest technology of their day? Find out  how American quiltmakers were influenced by the arts and sciences from examples in the DAR Museum’s current exhibit,  A Piece of Her Mind: Culture & Technology in American Quilts.

Speaker: Alden O’Brien, Curator of Costume and Textiles, DAR Museum

» Click Here to view an informative video on YouTube

This symposium will explore how women engaged with the world through their quiltmaking, to compliment the DAR Museum’s current exhibit, A Piece of Her Mind: Culture and Technology in American Quilts. With a full day of speakers and a chance to tour the exhibit, this event is not one to miss. Lunch and snacks included, PLUS a Gallery Chat with Alden O’Brien, Curator of Exhibit “A Piece of Her Mind: Culture and Technology in American Quilts.”

Registration deadline: Friday, November 1

Program:

The Romantic Era
Understanding Friendship Quilts
Lynne Zacek Bassett

Quiltmaking in the Culture of Home Sewing
Northern New York, 1850–1920
Hallie Bond

Star Spangl’d
Patriotic Quilts of the 1850s
Barbara Brackman

Mind-Reading
Improving our Understanding of the Floral Literacy of Quiltmakers in the First Half of the 19th Century
Deborah Kraak and Dr. Terry Terrell

A New Deal for Quilts
Janneken Smucker

» Click Here for Tickets and Additional Information