US Citizenship Test Sampler Workshop with Artist Aram Han Sifuentes

Learn to embroider while hand-sewing the civic study questions and answers that appear on the US naturalization test. This workshop is for anyone who wants to review—or learn about—the test questions, share stories, think about what it means to be a citizen, or practice embroidery with civic-minded friends!

Aram Han Sifuentes’s ongoing US Citizenship Test Sampler project engages the social and collective nature of needlework’s history and exhibits the value of non-citizen communities. Sewn samplers were used in Colonial America to teach young children needlework and the alphabet. The artist was inspired by her own naturalization process to use the format, creating a sampler of all 100 civic study questions which she sold for $725—the cost of applying for naturalization. Others can contribute to the pool of samplers through events like the one hosted at the MFA, both augmenting the project and building a community.