BENTONVILLE, AR.- Using textiles for canvas, a new type of art work will be on display at Crystal Bridges at the Massey in an exhibition from The Embroiderers’ Guild of America. Through the Needle’s Eye displays fiber arts created with needle and thread. The exhibition opens at the Massey on Friday, May 15.

Unlike any exhibition seen at the Massey so far, Through the Needle’s Eye showcases embroidered art including clothing, jewelry, vessels, games, books, maps and sculptures. The exhibition’s mission is to not only share the craft of embroidery, but keep stitchery traditions alive that might otherwise be lost.

“This exhibition helps preserve and expand the American tradition of needlework,” Crystal Bridges Youth & Families Program Coordinator Janelle Redlaczyk said. “Through the Needle’s Eye keeps the heritage of embroidery alive and shows the skill and precision used in creating fiber art.”

The Embroiderers’ Guild of America juried the exhibition with help from Edith Anderson, Feisner fiber artist, teacher and author of Color Studies; Lee Malerich, a contemporary fiber artist and teacher; and Gail Harker, an international textile artist and teacher. Arkansan Wanda Linsley’s textile work, Passages, is featured in the national exhibition and depicts an elderly man and young boy trekking through a thick, brightly-colored fall forest toward a blue sky.

Textile art has a rich history. Used around the world for centuries, fiber arts were created for both practical and visual purposes, and, until recently, were considered a craft rather than an art. Only since the 1970s have textiles been counted as fine art, when fiber art began to gain popularity in the fine art world.

Through the Needle’s Eye will be displayed through Aug. 9. Like all exhibitions at the Massey, it will be accompanied by a series of Learning Experiences – educational programs for the public developed by Crystal Bridges that involve guests in a variety of ways. Most are free and open to the public.