Stitched Together: Samplers from Past and Present, is one of two opening exhibitions at The Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts. This exhibition features work by members of the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the Embroiderers’ Guild of America.

Museum guests will explore the connection between needlework artists from past and present and how their work has reflected the driving forces behind decorative arts. Modern samplers, created by members of the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the Embroiderers’ Guild of America will compliment and contrast needlework created by young girls living and being educated in Bethlehem and the surrounding area between 1810 and 1870.

The exhibit will discuss themes of gender, socioeconomics, education, family and community, through an examination of materials used in samplers, stitching methods, thematic content, and artistic development and license.

Mirror Mirror PhotoMirror Mirror on the Wall exhibit is also open at the newly renovated Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts.

Mirrors have reflected changing tastes and styles in decorative arts throughout the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, from miniatures that adorn dollhouses’ walls, to a stately Federal style mirror topped by our national bird. Mirrors played an important role in all sizes of historic households as practical accessories and decorative statements. See what over 100 years of practical and stylish mirrors look like all together in one space.

In association with the re-opening of the museum, Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites and the Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts will be unveiling the new collections resource center and a new interactive dollhouse room designed exclusively for the Kemerer Museum by Once Upon a Treehouse.

The Kemerer Museum will be open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 11:00am to 4:00pm every week. More information on programs and visiting the site is available at historicbethlehem.org.

Please contact the Visitor Center at 1 (800) 360-TOUR for more information.