In 2026, the United States will mark its 250th anniversary. While much of the national focus will be on history, democracy, and civic identity, a novel initiative invites makers of all kinds to celebrate this milestone through something more personal, more tactile, and just as foundational: handwork.

Handwork 2026 is a national project that recognizes the role that making by hand has played in shaping our country’s culture, economy, and identity. It encompasses all forms of making (fiber, clay, woodworking, metalwork, printmaking, and more) and aims to lift up stories that have too often gone untold. The goal is to center makers and the communities they represent, illuminating how handwork has expressed resistance, resilience, and creativity across generations.

For NAN, Handwork 2026 is more than a celebration. It’s an opportunity.

Embroidery has often lived at the margins of the “fine art” world, but we know better. Through painstaking technique and imaginative design, the needlearts give voice to personal stories and cultural traditions. Whether a sampler passed down through generations, or a dazzling showcase of technical mastery, needlework is a form of expression that deserves to be seen and recognized as art.

Participating in Handwork 2026 allows us to share our work and our voices with a broader public. It also aligns beautifully with NAN’s mission: to promote excellence in the needlearts through education, exhibitions, and archival preservation. By contributing to this national platform, we ensure that embroidery is visible not just as a historic craft, but as a living and evolving art form.

How You Can Be Involved

Opportunities for participation are broad and flexible. You might consider:

• Participating in events, including exhibitions, which showcase embroidery
• Hosting or attending an embroidery demonstration, talk, or workshop at a community venue
• Collaborating with libraries, museums, and organizations with public space to display needleart 
• Creating new works that reflect on or reframe the nation’s history through the lens of fiber art

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. For example, NAN is promoting our annual activities such as Assembly, The Exemplary, and Taste of NAN as part of the Handwork 2026 initiative.

A Chance to Elevate Our Art

At its heart, Handwork 2026 is about visibility, voice, and validation. It’s a chance to say embroidery matters. It has mattered for centuries as art, as activism, as documentation, as joy. And it will continue to matter for generations to come.

Let’s make sure our stitches are part of the national tapestry.

To learn more, visit www.handwork2026.org and check out NAN’s page on the site under Featured Participants!