SHU Community Helps Stitch History
Seton Hill students, faculty, staff and members of the Alumni Advisory Council had the unique opportunity to contribute to the stitching of the Pennsylvania panel of the America’s Tapestry project when it came to campus on March 20.
The stitching session was a prelude to the public exhibit of all 13 hand-embroidered panels that will be displayed at the Seton Hill University Arts Center from Saturday, September 12 through Sunday, September 27, 2026.
America’s Tapestry is a project organized by costume designer and fiber artist Stefan Romero, a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University's College of Fine Arts. Romero, who specialized in the dress and textiles of Colonial America at CMU, is collaborating with Seton Hill University, William & Mary and a number of carefully selected historical and craft organizations to create this fiber arts project.
There will be one panel representing each of the original 13 colonies as part of the exhibition, which is being created in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence this summer. The panels illustrate stories of individual contributions that reveal each colony's struggle for independence.
Historical associations from across the states volunteered to collaborate on the panels' imagery and have generously agreed to host the stitchers as they work. More than 1000 volunteers from the ages of five to 96 have been working on the embroidery throughout the eastern United States, with local directors guiding the effort in each of the participating states.
The stitchers for the Pennsylvania panel are based in the historic Glenshaw Library, the oldest free library west of the Alleghenies, and have traveled to Gettysburg, Valley Forge National Historical Park and the Hershey History Center to host stitching sessions.
“The idea came to me while on a work assignment in Europe after visiting ‘The Great Tapestry of Scotland.’ I was deeply moved by the richness and drama of Scotland's story as it unfolded from panel to panel,” Romero said. “As the product of many talented individuals working across the country to create a harmonious whole, it seemed to characterize one of the defining features of the American experiment.”
After their inaugural display at William & Mary's Muscarelle Museum of Art near Colonial Williamsburg, America's Tapestry will come to the Seton Hill Arts Center before continuing on to other venues throughout the East Coast.
Find out more information about the America’s Tapestry project on their website. Learn more about the Pennsylvania panel by watching a video interview with the stitchers and on their Instagram page.
The stitching session was a prelude to the public exhibit of all 13 hand-embroidered panels that will be displayed at the Seton Hill University Arts Center from Saturday, September 12 through Sunday, September 27, 2026.
America’s Tapestry is a project organized by costume designer and fiber artist Stefan Romero, a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University's College of Fine Arts. Romero, who specialized in the dress and textiles of Colonial America at CMU, is collaborating with Seton Hill University, William & Mary and a number of carefully selected historical and craft organizations to create this fiber arts project.
There will be one panel representing each of the original 13 colonies as part of the exhibition, which is being created in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence this summer. The panels illustrate stories of individual contributions that reveal each colony's struggle for independence.
Historical associations from across the states volunteered to collaborate on the panels' imagery and have generously agreed to host the stitchers as they work. More than 1000 volunteers from the ages of five to 96 have been working on the embroidery throughout the eastern United States, with local directors guiding the effort in each of the participating states.
The stitchers for the Pennsylvania panel are based in the historic Glenshaw Library, the oldest free library west of the Alleghenies, and have traveled to Gettysburg, Valley Forge National Historical Park and the Hershey History Center to host stitching sessions.
“The idea came to me while on a work assignment in Europe after visiting ‘The Great Tapestry of Scotland.’ I was deeply moved by the richness and drama of Scotland's story as it unfolded from panel to panel,” Romero said. “As the product of many talented individuals working across the country to create a harmonious whole, it seemed to characterize one of the defining features of the American experiment.”
After their inaugural display at William & Mary's Muscarelle Museum of Art near Colonial Williamsburg, America's Tapestry will come to the Seton Hill Arts Center before continuing on to other venues throughout the East Coast.
Find out more information about the America’s Tapestry project on their website. Learn more about the Pennsylvania panel by watching a video interview with the stitchers and on their Instagram page.