Common Threads in Arkansas
“America 250: Common Threads” weaves together textiles, art, and artifacts to tell the story of a nation.
Gift of Rhea Goodman.
As much as apple pies and baseball are American traditions, so too are textiles. In fact, one of the most famous symbols of American identity is a piece of fabric: the American flag. Through the talented hand and creative mind of its original maker, Betsy Ross, colony unity was woven together into a piece of art.
Many artistic and decorative objects made in the United States, both old and new, hold this ability. A statue of a famous statesman, a piece of paper with decorative calligraphy, and even the squares of a quilt made centuries ago can evoke a sense of time and place—whether good, bad, or in-between—from America’s past.
Such is the basis of the upcoming exhibition, America 250: Common Threads. Opening on March 20 and continuing until July 27 at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, the show weaves a look back at American history with objects spanning the United States, time, and national and personal narratives. The “America 250” in the show’s title refers to America’s 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, also known as a semiquincentennial, while “Common Threads” reflects on how American art has influenced civic participation and developed community relationships.
of American Art.
As also hinted by the exhibit’s name, textiles are well represented in the show and include pieces on loan from the American Folk Art Museum in New York City. “The American Folk Art Museum has been an incredible partner in developing this semiquincentennial exhibition. Self-taught artists and communal artmaking practices are foundational to the history of the United States,” explains Crystal Bridges Museum’s assistant curator of American art, Larissa Randall. “By lending over 30 signature objects from their collection, the American Folk Art Museum empowers us to tell broader and more complex stories about American art over the past 250 years.”
Among the selections from the American Folk Art Museum is a circa 1885–1920 silk and satin quilt. Shining in a bright jewel-tone purple, the quilt’s color is a product of the 1856 invention of synthetic aniline dyes, alongside the entry of silk as a domestic industry in America in the mid-1800s. To add to the grandeur of the piece, the maker of the quilt—an unidentified member of the McAllister family in New Hampshire—also added atop the silk fabric face is a second trend of the era: nine crazy quilt star cutouts.
Another quilt from the American Folk Art Museum is one that many visitors may recognize even before they step into the show, as it serves as the image for the exhibit’s advertising. It was made by Emmaus, Pennsylvania, quiltmaker Gertrude Knappenberger to commemorate the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. Upon seeing the piece, viewers will spot pastel-colored appliqué designs of birds, flowers, stars, and heart emblems placed in a diamond pattern on a white cotton quilt top. Within this pattern are the numbers “1876” placed in the center, and the text “Centennial” and “G. Knappenberger” quilted vertically on the left and right sides.
Textile-focused content will continue with live quilting sessions by local quilters and guilds within the exhibit. They will piece together squares made by Arkansas schoolchildren and textile artist Basil Kincaid.
But not all items displayed in America 250 are made from fabric. “Visitors will see hundreds of objects made between 1776–2026. The exhibition includes a room of George Washington portraits, collectables, and ephemera, as well as entire sections dedicated to national symbols like flags, eagles, and liberty figures,” explains Randall. “Visitors will also see new work by contemporary American artists Sheryl Oring, Drew Cameron, and Titus Kaphar.”
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
One of the most well-known items on display is a marble original bust of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton by Italian sculptor Giuseppe Ceracchi, made in 1794. The artwork is noted for its likeness of the former U.S. secretary of the treasury, while also appearing—through Ceracchi’s signature neoclassical style—as what Tyson Scholar Amy Torbert described in a 2016 Crystal Bridges Museum blog post as a “Roman stateman with a classical profile and strong nose” that depicts “the democratic ideals of the new American republic, whose leaders consciously chose to associate their nation with the ancient democracies of Greece and the republican values of Rome.” The bust has become a well-known depiction of Hamilton and has served as a model for numerous likenesses, including the first U.S. postal stamp in his honor and the head of the granite statue by Carl Conrads in Central Park.
The bust was originally part of the Ceracchi’s Great Men of America series, which included likenesses of Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and John Adams. It was given to Hamilton by the artist, who later demanded payment for his time and materials from his subject. Hamilton reluctantly paid the sum, and it was kept in the family until it was donated to the then-Astor Library in 1896 and later purchased by the Crystal Bridges Museum in 2025.
This show is the result of a partnership between the Crystal Bridges Museum and the year-long nationwide initiative Handwork 2026, organized by the Craft in America team. This multi-platform collaboration between museum institutions, arts-related organizations, educators, and makers highlights American handmade craft in honor of the nation’s semiquincentennial anniversary. Efforts from this initiative include multiple exhibitions such as America 250, public events, educational programming, a four-episode feature on PBS’s Craft in America, and a publication.
More information about America 250: Common Threads is at crystalbridges.org, and Handwork 2026 at handwork2026.org. For more antique events and news related to America’s 250th, check out Kovels Antique Trader’s monthly column, “Celebrating 250 Years of American Antiques,” in every 2026 issue. Readers can also find special reporting here on the website.
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