Title: Going Through Hoops: Women on the Move  
Artform: Wooden Embroidery Hoops 

Goals/Objectives 

To use wooden embroidery hoops as a nod to traditional women’s handicraft and to celebrate twentieth-century trailblazers who were willing to “go through hoops” to realize their goals, charting a course for others to follow. 

Studio Work 

Participants select someone who “went through hoops” to achieve her goals. They create a design symbolically celebrating and honoring their subject. This can be a historical figure or a family or community member of the participant.  

Materials 

• Wooden 10–12-inch wooden embroidery hoops 
• Lightweight muslin fabric stretched across the hoop 
• Assortment of non-bleed markers made for use on fabric 
• Fabric scraps/ribbons/lace/embroidery threads/sewing threads 
• Pencils to sketch out design on fabric 
• Acrylic paint and thin brushes 
• Collage materials 
• Wood glue 

Inspiration 

Traditional embroidery work from the nineteenth century 

Contemporary artists who work with embroidery and mixed media  

Sheila Myer Miller and Barbara Ellison Rosenblit, Pentimento: Revealing Women’s Stories 

Exhibition 

The embroidery hoops are lightweight and can be installed on any wall with push pins. They can also be hung as a large mobile. The lightweight muslin fabric has some transparency, so installing near or hanging in front of a window can be very effective. 

Laminated sheets of artist statements and short biographies of the woman participants chose to represent can help visitors appreciate the installation. Place the laminated sheets in a clear acrylic holder. At the exhibition, participants can reflect on their creative process, explaining their intention for the work 

Tip  

A small guest book left next to the exhibit invites visitors to comment on the work.