Highlights Tours
Free docent-led tours of the galleries are offered weekends at 1:30 p.m. (textile tour) and 2:45 p.m. (Washingtoniana tour).
All Programs by Date
September
Lecture: Discover World Fashion at the Museum Library
Learn about the history of this hidden textile library and see some of its unique offerings, including rare books on costume.
October
Lecture/Show-and-Tell: Soumak Weaving from the Shahsavan
Tom Newcomer, a collector of textiles for over twenty years, will focus on the wide array of Soumak weaving from the Shahsavan (Iran).
Discussion: Campaign History and the Current Race
Delve into presidential campaigns of years past with GW assistant professor Matthew Dallek to put today’s race into perspective.
Consultations: Ask a Curator, Ask a Conservator
Visitors can learn more about their own textiles from museum curators and conservators.
Discussion: D.C. Murals, 1970 to Today
Trace the development of Washington’s street murals through all eight wards with Perry Frank and Cory Stowers from D.C. Murals: Spectacle and Story.
Gallery Talk: Shibori Techniques in Women's Summer Kimono
Join artist and educator Candace Edgerley in the galleries as she discusses the methods used in a kimono on display from The Textile Museum's collections.
Lecture: A Portrait of Fragile Diversity in Oaxacan Textiles
Join American photographer Eric Mindling for an in-depth look at his Living Threads Project, which documents the fragile diversity of Oaxacan textiles and the people who use them. This program is presented in collaboration with the Mexican Cultural Institute of the Embassy of Mexico.
Family Day: Raise a Flag for Your Next President!
Join us at the height of today’s historic presidential election for an all-ages family day that explores how people have demonstrated their allegiance to candidates past.
Book Talk and Signing: "Historically African-American Leisure Destinations Around Washington, D.C."
Patsy Mose Fletcher discusses the history behind Washington's forgotten era of African-American leisure in her new book.
Lecture and Gallery Tour: Nineteenth-Century U.S. Political Flags Revealed
Enjoy an insider’s talk and gallery walk with Jeff R. Bridgman, founder of Jeff R. Bridgman American Antiques, internationally known expert on antique American Stars & Stripes, and consultant to the exhibition "Your Next President . . . !"
Lecture: Preventative Conservation of New Textile Acquisitions
Conservation Fellow Gennifer Majors will give insight into how conservators have prepared a magnificent collection of textiles and accessories from Southwest Chinese minority peoples that was recently donated to the museum by Bea Roberts.
Artist Talk: Lissa Hunter, Material Matters
Join nationally recognized weaver and basketmaker Lissa Hunter for a lecture about her career and creative path.
Discussion: Wymer’s D.C. Database
Join Jessica Richardson Smith, research services librarian at the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., to learn about this invaluable resource for researching images of D.C.'s mid-century residential neighborhoods, local businesses, parks, roadways, and more.
Film: "In Search of Lost Colour: The Story of Natural Dyes"
This film by Maiwa Productions features an astonishing range of dye techniques and origins—from the caracol purpura snail in Mexico, to the lac insects of Laos, to jackfruit root and the most famous root of all: madder.
Lecture/Show-and-Tell: Finding Old Persia in Today's Iran
Collector and museum docent Sheridan Collins reports on her recent trip organized by Hali magazine to three centers instrumental to the history of carpet weaving: Shiraz, Esfahan and Kashan, and Iran’s capital, Tehran.
Discussion: From Campaign Memorabilia to Merchandise
GW associate professor Michael Cornfield will discuss trends in campaign marketing from the nineteenth century to the current election.
November
2016 George Hewitt Myers Award Dinner
This year’s award dinner will honor Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada for lifetime achievements in advancing the textile arts. Additionally, Rebecca A.T. Stevens will receive The Textile Museum Award of Distinction.
Shop Event: Member Sale
Museum members are invited to bring friends and family (up to five guests) to the museum shop for a 20% discount on all regularly priced merchandise.
Fall Symposium: Only in Okinawa: Textiles and Traditions of the Ryukyu Kingdom
Inspired by the exhibition "Bingata! Only in Okinawa," the fall symposium will feature five distinguished scholars from Okinawa who will provide a broader context for Okinawa’s celebrated textile art.
Adult Workshop: Bingata Dyeing
A special workshop led by "bingata" master Eiichi Shiroma will introduce you to this uniquely Okinawan technique of dyeing textiles.
Adult Workshop: Bingata Dyeing
A special workshop led by "bingata" master Eiichi Shiroma will introduce you to this uniquely Okinawan technique of dyeing textiles.
Discussion: Race and Ethnicity on the Campaign Trail
Join collector Tony Lee to learn about campaign items used by presidential candidates that feature ethnicity and race.
Shop Event: 27th Annual Museum Shop Around
Stop by Strathmore’s Museum Shop Around to find fabulous gifts from eighteen area museum and cultural shops, including ours.
Film: "Indigo: A World of Blue"
In this Maiwa Productions documentary, renowned indigo scholar Jenny Balfour Paul speaks on indigo's fascinating history, traditions, superstitions, and lore.
Lecture/Show-and-Tell: Salt Bags from Iran and Central Asia
Collector Patrick Weiler will discuss colorful salt bags and provide an overview of the impact of salt in political and military history.
Book Talk and Signing: "Alexander Robey Shepherd: The Man Who Built the Nation’s Capital"
Get the lowdown on one of Washington’s most controversial figures, Alexander “Boss” Shephard, with author and researcher John Richardson.
Film and Discussion: "A Weaverly Path: The Tapestry Life of Silvia Heyden"
Director Kenny Dalsheimer will give a special introduction to this film, which offers an intimate, visually stunning portrait of Swiss-born tapestry weaver Silvia Heyden. This program is presented in partnership with the Embassy of Switzerland.
Gallery Talk: Textile Fragments from Mamluk Egypt
Historian Joel Blecher will discuss a rare fragment from The Texti
Artist Talk: Rowland Ricketts, Seed, Plant, Resist
Textile artist Rowland Ricketts will discuss how growing and processing indigo shapes his art, informs his worldview, and serves as an act of resistance in a culture of overproduction and over-consumption.
Shop Event: Rowland Ricketts Trunk Show
Purchase one-of-kind contemporary indigo textiles by artist Rowland Ricketts during his lecture.
Exhibition and Behind-the-Scenes Tour: Jazzy Dresses and Textile Conservation
Join the Montgomery County Historical Society‘s Collection Manager and Curator Elizabeth Lay and Assistant Curator Dawn Moses for a special two-part program at the Society’s Beall-Dawson House in Rockville.
Curator Tour for Members: "Bingata! Only in Okinawa"
Join Curator Lee Talbot as he guides you through the new exhibition "Bingata! Only in Okinawa."
Curator Tour: "Bingata! Only in Okinawa"
Join Curator Lee Talbot as he guides you through the new exhibition "Bingata! Only in Okinawa."
Discussion: George Washington in Fine Art and Popular Print, 1774 to the present
William C. diGiacomantonio, chief historian at the U.S. Capitol Historical Society, will discuss how artists portrayed the foremost founder in art and how their illustrations influenced his legacy.
December
Consultations: Ask a Curator, Ask a Conservator
Visitors can learn more about their own textiles from museum curators and conservators.
Artist Talk: Sabrina Gschwandtner, No Idle Hands
Artist Sabrina Gschwandtner will discuss her unique montages of phototactic and textile materials that have been exhibited and collected by museums across the United States and around the world.
Lecture/Show-and-Tell: Textile Traditions from Western India
Join collectors Roger and Claire Pratt as they discuss and share both antique and contemporary textiles from Gujurat, Kutch, and Rajasthan.
Book Talk and Signing: "Capital Streetcars: Early Mass Transit in Washington, D.C."
John DeFerrari’s latest book surveys the 100-year saga of the streetcar in Washington, D.C.
Gallery Talk: "Congressional Constraint" by Jon Eric Riis
Join Rebecca A.T. Stevens, consulting curator for contemporary textiles, in the galleries to hear the story behind Jon Eric Riis's compelling work inspired by the contentious election season of 2012.
Lecture: Bingata: Art and Culture Collide
Explore Okinawa's "bingata" technique, its usage within Ryūkyūan society, and its continued practice by modern textile artists with Virginia Soenksen, author of several catalogues and articles on Japanese textiles.
Shop Event: NUNO Trunk Show
Purchase accessories, wearables, and outerwear from the Nuno Corporation that are not usually available for purchase in the United States.
Student Research Presentations: George Washington and His World
GW students will share their findings after a semester of in-depth research about George Washington at Mount Vernon.
Gallery Talk: A Closer Look at Resist-Dye Textiles from the Americas
Join Research Associate Ann Rowe for a closer look at several textiles from the museum’s Western Hemisphere collection.
Lecture/Show-and-Tell: A Collector's Greatest Pile Rugs, Wagireh, Khorjin, and Yastiks
Collector Gordon Priest shows us pile rugs, wagireh, khorjin, and yastiks from the late-nineteenth-century tribal, village, and nomadic production of Persia, Kurdistan, the Caucasus, and Anatolia.
Shop Event: Holiday Sale
Get up to 60% off select books, jewelry, textiles, accessories, and wearables.
The George Washington University Museum
The Textile Museum
701 21st Street, NW
Washington, DC 20052
Phone: 202-994-5200
museuminfo@gwu.edu
