Program Calendar

Delve into the long history of tapestries as an art form, networks of patronage and collecting, and the fascinating stories that brought a large group of tapestries to the Worcester Art Museum in central Massachusetts. From the Vault: Collecting Tapestries at the Worcester Art Museum was an exhibition in spring/summer 2025 that featured nearly 30 works—rarely on view due to their sensitivity to light—including 12 large-format tapestries and tapestry fragments spanning Antiquity to the present day. This exhibition allowed Delaney Keenan to explore two millennia of the weaving techniques across different cultures and show works that are rarely on view—some for the first time in decades. Highlights of the exhibition included the remarkably detailed 16th-century Flemish Last Judgment tapestry, long considered to be one of the most significant Renaissance tapestries in America, and Jean Lurçat’s Harvest Time (1937), which demonstrates a revival of tapestries as a medium for modern expression. This exhibition also marked the museum debut of dream disk (2024), a new acquisition by LA-based artist Diedrick Brackens (b. 1989), who is known for his intricate textile art that explores themes of identity through the narratives he weaves. Join curator Delaney Keenan to learn more about the history of tapestry production and collecting through the examples held in the Worcester Art Museum, and think broadly about the importance and endurance of tapestry weaving throughout the history of art.

Presented by Delaney Keenan, Assistant Curator of European Art, Worcester Art Museum