In my coursework at Oberlin College, I have learned that the concept of “craft” has been historically undervalued inWestern art history in comparison to other art forms, such as painting and sculpture. Because the women in my family engaged in both realms of artistry, I never thought of the two as separate, never as one less than the other. Both of my grandmothers were avid crocheters and embroiderers. They made blankets, tortilla covers, scarves, gloves, sweaters, and anything else one can imagine. When I got the opportunity to work as a curatorial assistant at the Allen, Marlise Brown gave me my first assignment, researching the Mexican embroidery samplers in the collection. I was elated that my first task in a museum space was one with which I shared a cultural background! Since they arrived at the museum in 1942, few researchers had investigated these delicate and beautiful artworks. As early as the 14th and 15th centuries, embroidery samplers were created as teaching tools for young women preparing for their domestic daughter. These acts of care and preservation demonstrate the generational protection of Indigenous craftsmanship. Marlise gave me the exciting opportunity to place my own flair on an upcoming exhibition featuring the embroidery samplers. This project has bloomed to preserve these women’s artistry in today’s political context. Because of the disconnect between “craft” and “art,” their identities were rarely recorded and were later forgotten. My research into embroidered and beaded works from Iroquois, Navajo, Turkey, West Africa, Japan, and other regions will aid storytelling of creativity within domestic household roles. An exhibition is planned for fall 2026; join us in celebrating and remembering the works of centuries of women worldwide who have exuded resistance fromdomestic household roles. —Natalia Alvarado (OC 2025) HIGHLIGHT / RECENT GRADUATE UNRAVELING CONNECTIONS: CRAFT, ART, AND MEMORY A student reflects on the intersection of embroidery, family, and identity in women’s artistry and resistance across generations and cultures. roles. Girls and women would practice their needlework with repeated patterns, floral motifs, and lettering. Throughout the world, perfecting needlework was essential to a young girl’s education, as they would apply embroidered ornament to their family and household items. After the Spanish conquest of Mexico, missionaries introduced Spanish needlework skills, which are believed to have originated in ancient Egypt, Persia, and several regions in the Near East. Most of the embroidery samplers at the Allen were produced by Indigenous young women from several Mexican states, such as Oaxaca, Puebla, and Jalisco. These women gifted the samplers to Maximilian I, Austria’s archduke and Mexico’s emperor from 1864 to 1867. Maximilian and Empress Carlotta possessed an extensive art collection, which included the embroidered samplers. Shortly after his execution in 1867, President Benito Juarez ordered the destruction of Maximilian’s entire art collection. However, these samplers were preserved by Dolores Bussi de Ruizand, who later passed them to her AT THE ALLEN / FALL 2025 / 13
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