From Sheep to Clothing:
Hand Weaving in Rural East-Central Illinois
April 4, 2009-?
Temporary and Traveling Exhibition
Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site, Visitor Center, Sargent Gallery
Audience: Students, especially 5th, 8th, and 11th grades, as well as the general public
Big Idea
Curatorial Committee
Saige Jedele, Lauren Wojnarowski and Chad Burroughs
The big idea of the exhibit is as follows: The complex process of hand-weaving
evolved from a home-based necessity to an industrial and artisan craft, all the while maintaining
an influence in people's lives.
The purpose of the exhibit is to illustrate the complete process of hand weaving through
artifacts, labels and first person interpretation.
The themes of the exhibit are incorporated into our take-home messages, which include
the following three primary messages along with secondary subsets for each:
Primary Message #1: A basic understanding of the hand-weaving process
-Hand-weaving was a lot of work.
-Spinning and hand-weaving were a time consuming process with many steps.
-Hand-weaving is a detailed process that relied on specific tools and skills.
Primary Message #2: A general knowledge of how the process and product have changed
-There was a change in home-based weaving to industrial weaving.
-People continued to weave, even after it was unnecessary.
-There were transactions between rural and urban communities.
Primary Message #3: Thoughts about weaving’s role in the lives of people
-Weaving played an important role in the lives of the Lincolns and the Sargents.
-All family members participated in the weaving process.
-Products of weaving are functional and artistic.
-Weaving was a vital part of the local economy.
Exhibition Planning Problems
Registrar Committee
Kitty Nowak, Katie Ebeling and Chris Davis
After taking inventory of the coverlets located at Lincoln Log Cabin, it is clear that we
have an enormous amount of objects to deal with for this exhibit. We have to take into
consideration the large amount at the site, and also the donated and loaned pieces that will be
incorporated into the exhibit. The task of dealing with the selection of artifacts is quite daunting,
but we are selecting pieces based on their relevancy to the exhibit’s themes. We are going to be
under the overall guidance of both the Director of Lincoln Log Cabin, Matthew Middlestadtt,
and the visiting curator, Sharon Stovall, deciding which pieces will ultimately be shown. They
will further our understanding about what final pieces will be in the exhibit through their
knowledge and expertise on weaving.
Spatial concerns are numerous for this exhibit. The Sargent Gallery is only 33.5’ by 29’
in size. We also have to accommodate two very large and dominating looms: the Sargent and
Martin Looms. We then have to consider the 21 coverlets within the collection, 6 to 10 of which
are to be displayed throughout the exhibit, in addition to several other textiles such as sheets and
pillowcases. The chosen coverlet pieces, in addition to the looms and coverlets, severely
constrict our ability to adequately and properly show many of these items in their full size and
beauty.
We also have to plan our space around a dual-sided 10-foot traveling pop-up display unit,
which will showcase the main focus of the hand weaving process on one side and discuss the
role of weaving today on the other. This traveling portion, in addition to several other display
cases that we will have to construct as the layout of the space is adjusted over time, will only add
to the spatial constraints that we are already facing.
Objects that display the weaving process will be selected from the collection to
accompany the pop-up display unit while at the Lincoln Log Cabin Historic Site. These items
will enhance the tactile experience of the exhibition, and a list of such artifacts will accompany
the traveling portion of the exhibit.
The Exhibit Voice
Education Committee
Amanda Paszek and Anthony Bowman
Determining the voice of our exhibition is an important step in creating an environment
comfortable and welcoming enough that the visitor will feel able and willing to learn. The text
of an exhibit establishes the relationship the exhibit builders hope to have with the visitor. We
hope to have a relationship in which visitors feel comfortable to spend as much time as they like
wandering the space and ask as many questions as they need upon leaving.
Weaving is a process that takes great skill and patience to learn, master and teach. It is a
practice that passes from generation to generation. To those who participate in this craft today it
is an art and a valuable hobby. To those who participated in this craft during the time of Thomas
Lincoln it was a necessity and the weavers were a vital part of society.
Through the front end evaluation, it can be seen that the subject of most interest to
potential visitors is the local story. Those surveyed have indicated they would most like to hear
the stories of the people over the years that have woven materials throughout Coles and
neighboring counties. The best person to present this information is the local scholar, a
personality with colloquial charm and likeability, but a firm understanding of the skill and its
components that has the ability to speak with authority on the matter. Coles County is filled with
many such women and men on whom we will be able to base our text. The local expert’s voice
will be able to instruct people on the process of weaving without seeming to recite lines from an
instruction manual. This voice will seem familiar when speaking about everyday uses and
practices within 19th and 20th century homes but seem informed and educated when mentioning
the introduction of industrialization.
In addition to this scholarly voice, we will include a children’s component that will
introduce kids to the process through tactile learning and relatable information. These additional
text boxes, pictures, and hands-on activities will be found throughout the exhibit and will allow
the family to participate together in their viewing experience. This voice will offer questions for
parents and teachers to raise to students from the elementary school level to the high school
level. The Illinois school curriculum teaches American history in grades five, eight, and eleven;
these will be the focus groups for this voice. Through readability statistics we will attempt to
keep this voice informative while at a level of understanding for each of these levels of
comprehension.
Design Opportunities and Constraints
Design Committee
Jennifer Fair and Kimberly Grauf
There are several design opportunities and constraints of the Sargent Gallery at Lincoln
Log Cabin Historic Site. Creating an exhibit within this space will allow for creativity when
developing content and displaying artifacts. However, the amount of space and resources will
limit the way the exhibit will be designed overall. The gallery itself is located in the visitor
center. Visitors exiting the main galleries at Lincoln Log Cabin will exit into the Sargent Gallery
space. We can therefore design the exhibit to start in the lower left corner of the room (see
design layout). This allows for the exhibit to be constructed with the idea of a designated path for
the visitors.
The gallery also has limitations. The client wishes for large coverlets to be displayed in
the exhibit. This creates a security issue for the textiles and a conservation issue if they are not
displayed in the correct manner. The site has three large cases: one flat case, one slanted case,
and one large Plexiglas case. These could be used to display folded textiles and would help
protect them from damage. However, this solution will only work if we reduce the number of
textiles wanted for display or if we build additional cases for the artifacts.
The light in the gallery is another conservation issue. The hot fluorescent lights used in
the gallery track lighting will damage the coverlets even through Plexiglas. By switching the
fluorescent light bulbs to LED, we will reduce the amount of damaging light in the space. The
gallery space must include two large looms and a 10 foot pop-up display unit. For the pop-up
display, we should have durable hanging panels attached and ready for travel. Both sides of this
display unit will have panels. The looms need to be placed away from the track lighting due to
height. These components will serve to construct an education based context for the exhibit;
however they will be difficult to design around because of their size.
Overall, the design of the exhibit space for the hand-weaving exhibit will be challenging.
The exhibit team must design a layout which addresses the opportunities and constraints of the
gallery space. We will work to be innovative in the design process and uphold the exhibit
mission's statement as well as protect the artifacts, and fulfill the educational goals of the exhibit
team.
Benefits of the Exhibition
Registrar Committee
Kitty Nowak, Katie Ebeling and Chris Davis
This exhibit will benefit the visitors by showing them how the process of weaving has
stayed the same throughout time. We also hope to ensure that after people view the entire
exhibit, that they take the knowledge learned and express that knowledge back into the
community. This will serve two overall outcomes: increasing knowledge about the exhibit at
Lincoln Log Cabin and furthering understanding of the process of weaving and the roles that it
had within the homestead.
The exhibit will benefit museums and staff by showing the detailed transition of weaving
from a necessary household duty to an art form allowing those weaving freedom in design and
choice for the items they were creating. This will be achieved through their interpretation of the
exhibition’s themes.
The traveling portion of this exhibit will have the ability to showcase this topic to vast
audiences including other museums, schools, and visitor centers. This will allow us to reach the
largest audience possible with our exhibit.
We will be incorporating local guilds to ensure that the information presented within this
exhibit is as accurate as possible. We want to make sure that no misconceptions are portrayed in
our exhibit, and that the audience and viewers are taking in accurate and detailed information
regarding weaving. We also hope to utilize the expertise of these groups through lectures and
on-site demonstrations.
In the economic hardship facing Illinois state historic sites, such as Lincoln Log Cabin, it
is essential to provide learning experiences that will attract both new and returning visitors. We
hope that this exhibit, focused on artifacts and histories of East-Central Illinois, will be of
interest to people of the local community. This should generate revenue and promote the Lincoln
Log Cabin in the future.
Conceptual Planning Diagram
Photography Committee
Tamara Wolski and Betsy Giles
Gender
Roles
Hand
Weaving
Jacquard
Martin
Sargent
Others
Cotton to Fabric
Individual
Stories
Flax to linen
Process
Local
History
Sheep to wool
General
History
Weaving for
necessity in
the home
Industrialization
of weaving
Patterns
Weaving for
pleasure, 20th
Cent. to present
Coverlets on
display
Styles of the
period
Educational Goals and Objectives
Education Committee
Anthony Bowman and Amanda Paszek
Goal 1: Understand the basic hand weaving process
Objectives
A) Identify the steps of production
B) Identify the skills and tools necessary to produce woven material
C) Analyze how raw materials changed with processing
Goal 2: Understand how the process and products have changed and remained the same over
time
Objectives
A) Realize the effect of new technologies on production
B) Identify aesthetic changes and continuity in coverlet design
C) Observe the transformation of hand weaving from necessity to craft
Goal 3: Understand the role of hand weaving in individual lives
Objectives
A) Recognize the generational connection in hand weaving (skills, patterns, etc.)
B) Examine gender roles in home economy
C) Examine the actions performed by different age groups in the home economy
D) Identify hand weaving as a means of individual expression
Exhibit Rendering
Design Committee
Jennifer Fair and Kimberly Grauf
Key
Red: Exhibit cases, display units, and looms
Green: Exhibit panels with text and graphics
Purple: Coverlet locations
Yellow: Doors
The preliminary exhibit layout intends to include several display components and exhibit
panels with graphics, while highlighting artifacts and examples of hand weaving. The visitor
will begin from the Lincoln Log Cabin’s permanent exhibit exit and proceed by turning left.
There will be an introductory panel and a curatorial statement text panel. The large curved popup display unit will include information about the process of weaving and lead the visitor to
cases with interpreted artifacts, spinning wheel, and loom. The visitor will then turn right and
see text panels on weaving patterns and coverlet weaving. A small bed property will serve as a
display unit for textiles and the Sargent Loom will be placed in a vignette interpreting the
materials used in hand weaving in the home. The visitor will again turn right and see text panels
on the industrialization of weaving in East-Central Illinois. Lastly, the visitor will see text panels
on the other side of the curved display unit concerning modern hand weaving practices.