The Black Gold Tapestry, by Calgary artist Sandra Sawatzky, is one of the twenty-first century's most significant Canadian works of art. This sixty-metre, hand-embroidered masterpiece visually narrates the history of oil, tracing its impact on human civilizations around the world and throughout the centuries. Single-handedly, Sawatzky created the tapestry over nine years, diligently working over 16,000 hours. The Black Gold Tapestry is comprised of millions of meticulously stitched and knotted threads that form a depiction of the world's relationship with oil.

Sawatzky explains, "As a source of fuel and a versatile resource for plastic and chemical creation, oil has profoundly shaped both our world and ourselves for better and for worse. I decided the tapestry would be about discovery, science, invention, adventure, consequences and the pound of flesh exacted from those involved. The story of the tapestry covers the globe and spans eons."