In 1981, the Isla Negra Foundation was established in New York, with the aim of preserving and disseminating the work carried out by a group of women from Isla Negra, who under the tutelage of Leonor Sobrino and from 1969, embroider their inner world with a needle and multicolored wool, creating wonderful works of art. This non-profit foundation, made up of family members, friends and collaborators who deeply value the work that Las Bordadoras de Isla Negra (the Embroiderers of Isla Negra) have done for more than a decade and in order to form a collection that will last in time, begins to acquire tapestries chosen by their mentor that represent the diversity of their authors.
Many of the embroideries in this collection have been seen in important museums around the world. Back in Chile, in 2016 the collection undergoes a careful conservation process, carried out by professionals from the Andrés Bello Central Archive of the University of Chile. Today they return, after 50 years, to the National Museum of Fine Arts (MNBA), in the successful exhibition BORDAR EL DESBORDE: Las Bordadoras de Isla Negra en el MNBA 1969-2019 (EMBROIDERING THE OVERFLOW: Las Bordadoras de Isla Negra at the MNBA 1969-2019), open through November 24, 2019.
The task of preserving and disseminating the work of Las Bordadoras de Isla Negra, soon makes this collection resume its extension work in Chile and abroad, reaching the public in different exhibition projects for a couple of years, before reaching its definitive home in Isla Negra, through the project of the Casa Museo Bordadoras de Isla Negra (Embroiderers of Isla Negra House Museum), under the eaves of the Eladio Sobrino Foundation