Although taken for granted by many social and art historians, the apron is the subject of a fascinating reevaluation in this exhibition. Apron Strings: Ties to the Past, opening on June 16, 2020 at Edmond History Museum & Museum, features fifty-one vintage and contemporary examples that review the apron’s role as an emotionally charged vehicle for expression with a rich and varied craft history that is still viable today.
Using aprons dating from the late 1930s through the present, the exhibition chronicles changing attitudes toward women and domestic work. It also surveys the wide range of design and craft techniques apron-makers have used to express themselves, while still working within creative venues traditionally available to women. Today, artists continue using aprons to explore cultural myths and realities as well as their individual experiences with American domesticity.
Apron Strings is organized into several thematic groups addressing design, historical context, use, and cultural message. The exhibition serves as an excellent tool to bring together diverse parts of the community through shared experiences with, and memories of, a common, everyday textile.
Apron Strings: Ties to the Past reevaluates the apron’s varying roles over time in an artistic and cultural manner.
A Program of ExhibitsUSA, a national division of Mid-America Arts Alliance with Oklahoma Arts Council and The National Endowment for the Arts
The exhibition is toured by ExhibitsUSA, a national program of Mid-America Arts Alliance. ExhibitsUSA sends more than 25 exhibitions on tour to more than 100 small- and mid-sized communities every year. More information is available at www.maaa.org and www.eusa.org.
