MEDIA CONTACTS:
Angela Olson, [email protected]
The George Washington University
Chita Middleton, [email protected]
The Textile Museum
Washington D.C.—Consistently voted one of D.C.’s best museum gift stores, The Textile Museum Shop will be open throughout the 2013 holiday shopping season. Visit Fridays through Sundays this fall to find one-of-a-kind, handmade gifts from the Washington, D.C. area and around the world. Beginning October 14, The Textile Museum will be closed to visitors Mondays through Thursdays as it prepares to transition to the George Washington University.
The TM Shop has received top ratings from Apartment Therapy, Frommer’s, and other guides for its wide selection of high-quality jewelry, scarves, home décor, and more. Visitors to the shop this season will discover unique pieces for every style and budget: a cozy alpaca “infinity scarf” handmade in North Carolina; a felted fair-trade necklace from Nepal; and colorful pillows quilted by local fiber-artist Cynthia Gossage—to name a few.
Holiday shopping will kick-off October 1 with an unveiling of new winter merchandise, including alpaca, felt, and wool accessories, throws, and slippers. Festive shop events and promotions will continue throughout the season; visit the online calendar for details. Between December 13 and 29, the museum store is offering discounts up to 70% as it prepares to move to the new museum on GW’s campus. The Textile Museum’s final exhibition before its 2014 reopening, Out of Southeast Asia: Art That Sustains, closes October 13. Beginning October 14, the museum and shop will reduce public hours. Guests will be still be able to visit The TM Shop and the two historic homes of the museum’s founder, George Hewitt Myers, on Fridays through Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., October 14 to December 31.
The TM Shop’s fall hours will give visitors a special opportunity to enjoy the museum’s last days on S Street, while obtaining unique holiday gifts for friends and family. A gift from The TM Shop is a also gift to The Textile Museum, helping support its mission to expand public knowledge and appreciation—locally, nationally, and internationally—of the artistic merits and cultural importance of the world’s textiles.
About The Textile Museum and the George Washington University
The Textile Museum will reopen in a forthcoming museum on the campus of the George Washington University in the fall of 2014. Exhibitions and programs will be presented to the public through this unprecedented affiliation between a university and an existing art museum with a respected 88-year history. The Textile Museum plans to continue many of its acclaimed programs, and the affiliation creates new opportunities for research and innovative public resources.
The new museum will be a custom-built, approximately 46,000-square-foot building located at G and 21st Streets, NW. It will include dedicated galleries and increased exhibition space for The Textile Museum, the Albert H. Small Washingtoniana Collection and the university’s art collections. A groundbreaking ceremony was held in October 2012, substantial construction work will be completed on the facilities in December 2013, and the public opening is anticipated for fall 2014.
In addition to the new museum in Foggy Bottom, the university is constructing a 22,000-square-foot conservation and resource center at its Virginia Science and Technology Campus in Ashburn, Va., for the care and study of the museum’s collections. Textile Museum staff are currently preparing the 19,000 pieces in the museum’s collection for the move to the new storage facility, a process which is being documented on the museum’s tumblr page.
About The Textile Museum
The Textile Museum expands public knowledge and appreciation—locally, nationally and internationally—of the artistic merit and cultural importance of the world’s textiles. Founded in 1925 by George Hewitt Myers, The Textile Museum is an international center for the exhibition, study, collection and preservation of the textile arts. The Textile Museum collection encompasses more than 19,000 objects that date from 3,000 BCE to the present. The museum’s 20,000 volume Arthur D. Jenkins Library of Textile Arts is among the world’s foremost resources for the study of textiles. The Textile Museum is located at 2320 ‘S’ Street, NW in Washington, D.C. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. through October 13, 2013. An $8 suggested admission is requested of non-members. In the fall of 2014, The Textile Museum will reopen as a primary cornerstone of the forthcoming George Washington University Museum (G and 21st Streets NW).
Please Note: Beginning October 14, 2013, The Textile Museum will not have an exhibition on view. The Textile Museum Shop will remain open Fridays through Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. from October 14 through December 31, 2013. The Textile Museum will offer a variety of special events and programs throughout the transition in 2013 and 2014.