“INTERWOVEN STORIES”: An exhibition of the community stitching project “Interwoven Stories: The Final Chapter,” created by artist/activist Diana Weymar, opens on Saturday, June 4 at the Arts Council of Princeton with a reception from 3 to 6 p.m. This nationwide project, on view through July 2, includes more than 400 embroidered “pages.”

“Interwoven Stories: The Final Chapter,” the popular community stitching project created by artist/activist Diana Weymar (Princeton University ’91), has gone national and will return to the Arts Council of Princeton’s Taplin Gallery from June 4 through July 2. The exhibition of more than 400 embroidery pieces, stitched by participants from around the country and here in Princeton, opens with a free reception on Saturday, June 4 from 3 to 6 p.m.

Weymar facilitated “Interwoven Stories” as the Arts Council’s 2016 artist-in-residence, creating a special dialogue within the Princeton community. With some participants taking up embroidery for the first time, each stitcher received a fabric page resembling a blank sheet of notebook paper to stitch a story, honor beloved family or friends, or return home to a favorite place through needle and thread.

The response to this project exceeded organizers’ wildest expectations. Each page spoke to the generosity, diversity, spirit, commitment, and creativity of the community, and ultimately more than 100 completed pages were donated to “Interwoven Stories 2016” and displayed in the Arts Council’s Taplin Gallery to mark the culmination of Weymar’s residency.

In 2018, the project was expanded and dubbed “Interwoven Stories International,” the result of Weymar taking the project on the road for two years to curate more than 250 pieces collected from the original Princeton project, plus pages from the Peddie School, the Nantucket Stitching Gam, the Zen Hospice Project (San Francisco, Calif.), Open Space Art (Damascus, Syria), Build Peace (Columbia), the University of Puget Sound (Tacoma, Wash.), Yarns/NoDominion Theater (Jersey City), and Trans Tipping Point Project (Victoria, BC, Canada).

This 2022 iteration welcomed past participants to revisit their previous works while inviting new stitchers to get involved. After launching in February, more than 100 participants from around the nation joined “Interwoven Stories: The Final Chapter” and will present their work in the Taplin Gallery, marking the culmination of this community project.

“Returning to the place where the project started six years ago is an opportunity to reflect on and affirm our community values,” said Weymar. “If it was important to remember, create, and heal in 2016, it is even more important now. This project has always been about capturing a moment in time.”

The Arts Council of Princeton is at 102 Witherspoon Street. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free and open to the public. For more information, visit artscouncilofprinceton.org.