The unique textile dolls of artist Shelley Thornton are featured in a summer exhibition at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery.

An opening reception for “Shelly Thornton’s Textile Art Dolls” is 5 to 7 p.m. May 31 in the gallery on the second floor of the Home Economics Building. The reception is free and open to the public.

A lifelong artist, Thornton turned to the medium of textiles, creating one-of-a-kind cloth art dolls in 1992. Her 28-inch-tall designs feature embroidery, needle-sculpted faces, wooden ball joints and Thornton’s signature-style stuffed cloth hair.

The exhibition will showcase Thornton’s dolls and her recent expansion into animation. The display will use the gallery’s state-of-the-art projection system to show a 30-foot by 9-foot animation featuring Thornton’s home, studio and materials used in doll creation. Other parts of the exhibition include a crazy quilt and a fabric self-portrait.

“Textile Art Dolls” will be on display in the Hillestad Gallery from June 3 to Sept. 6. The gallery is open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and weekends by special request. Admission to the gallery is free and open to the public.

Learn more about exhibitions at the Hillestad.