WINTERTHUR, DEL. — Winterthur’s fall needlework conference is filling up fast, and no wonder. Planned for October 14–15, the program is designed to complement “Embroidery: The Language of Art,” an exhibition exploring the changing relationship of embroidery to art, craft and design between the Seventeenth and Nineteenth Centuries. The display was organized by Linda Eaton, Winterthur’s John L. & Marjorie P. McGraw director of collections and senior curator of textiles.

Calliope, muse of eloquence and heroic poetry, and Clio, muse of history, figure in this work memorializing George Washington by Sarah Skinner Ward; silk and tempera on linen needlework, 1810–13. Winterthur Museum

Sometimes elevated as an art, other times relegated to the status of craft, needlework’s stature has risen and fallen over the centuries. As organizers observe, Nineteenth Century design reformers “worked to bring the two sides back together and to raise the reputation of artisans and craftspeople, but the distinction between art and craft remains controversial today.”

Scheduled to speak are Tricia Wilson Nguyen, owner of Thistle Threads in Arlington, Mass.; Andrea Pappas, associate professor of art history at Santa Clara University; Amanda Isaac, associate curator at George Washington’s Mount Vernon; Susan P. Schoelwer, Robert H. Smith senior curator at George Washington’s Mount Vernon; Paris Amanda Spies-Gans, a doctoral candidate at Princeton University; Dr Brenda M. King, chairman of the Textile Society; Anna Mason, museum gallery and archive manager at William Morris Gallery, London; Amelia Peck, Marica F. Vilcek curator of American decorative arts, Metropolitan Museum of Art; and Cynthia Fowler, professor of art at Emmanuel College.

Westtown School Samplers, courtesy Westtown School.

Programs include a visit to Westtown School with Mary Uhl Brooks, Westtown archivist and author of Threads of Useful Learning: Westtown School Samplers.

Contemporary needleworkers are invited to sign up for three-hour workshops led by internationally recognized instructors. Program leaders include Joanne Harvey, owner of the Examplarery in Dearborn, Mich.; Tricia Wilson Nguyen; Lynn Hulse, co-founder of Ornamental Embroidery and a visiting research fellow at the Victoria and Albert Museum; Margriet Hogue, owner of the Essamplaire in Alberta, Canada; and Wendy White, needlework designer, teacher and independent historian on Cape Cod.

There will also be shorter sessions led by Joanne Harvey, Roberta Weisberg, Anne Hilker, Emily Guthrie, Joy Gardiner and Hogue on topics ranging from the nature of luxury to Erica Wilson and the art of crewel work, a look at spectacular pattern books, and the conservation and display of needlework.

Decorated box, England, 1740–1800. Winterthur Museum

To register for this full program of provocative lectures, innovative workshops and tours exploring the connection of art and embroidery over four centuries, 800-448-3883 or www.winterthur.org, where a brochure may be downloaded.

Winterthur is at 5105 Kennett Pike (Route 52).