Textile Museums

When traveling, most textile artists are usually interested in discovering interesting textile related museums and exhibits. The following list should be helpful:

Check the calendar on the website of the American Craft Council (ACC) for up-to-date information by state about fiber related exhibits. It also posts information about international exhibitions.

http://www.craftcouncil.org/html/calendar/main.shtml

.

Alphabetical List of Museums – FibreArts Online
http://www.fibreartsonline.com/res/museum/index.htm

American Museum of Quilts and Textiles (same as the San Jose Quilt Museum)
http://www.sjquiltmuseum.org/

American Precision Museum - Sewing Machine Collection - Windsor, Vermont

http://www.americanprecision.org/component/option,com_easygallery/act,categories/cid,49/Itemid,90/

American Textile History Museum – Lowell, MA
http://www.athm.org/

Antique Sewing Machine Museum - Arlington, TX

http://www.planetware.com/arlington/antique-sewing-machine-museum-us-tx-ars.htm

Arizona State Museum – University of Arizona Gloria F. Ross Center for Tapestry Studies – Tucson, AZ
http://www.tapestrycenter.org/

Cannon Village/Fieldcrest Cannon Textile Museum – Kannapolis, NC
http://www.museumsusa.org/museums/info/1162906

Costume and Textile Group – Belle Mead, NJ
http://www.museumsusa.org/museums/info/1163099

Embroidery Museum - Union City, NJ
http://www.meadowlandslibertycvb.com/view_storeinfo.php?ID_no=132&category=attractions

Embroidery Museum and Resource Center - Louisville, KY

http://www.embroiderymuseum.com/

http://www.egausa.org/html/gallery.html

Espanola Valley Fiber Arts Center – Espanola, NM
http://www.evfac.org/gallery.htm

Fabric Workshop and Museum – Philadelphia, PA
http://www.fabricworkshopandmuseum.org/

Fashion Institute of Technology – New York, NY
http://www.fitnyc.edu/aspx/Content.aspx?menu=FutureGlobal:Museum

Fiber Art Center – Amherst, MA
http://www.fiberartcenter.com/exhibits/exhibits.html

Handweaving Museum and Arts Center – Clayton, NY
http://www.hm-ac.org/

Home Textile Tool Museum – Orwell, PA
http://www.hometextiletoolmuseum.org/

International Quilt Study Center – Lincoln, NE
http://www.quiltstudy.org/

Jane Sauer Gallery (Thirteen Moons) – Santa Fe, NM
http://jsauergallery.com/

Kansas State University (KSU) Historic Costume and Textile Museum – Manhattan, KS
http://www.humec.ksu.edu/museum/

Kentucky Folkart Center of Morehead State University - Morehead, KY

http://www.morehead-st.edu/kfac/

Kolona Quilt and Textile Museum – Kalona, IA
http://www.kctc.net/welcome/kalona.html

Lace Museum – Sunnyvale, CA
http://www.thelacemuseum.org/

La Conner Quilt Museum – La Conner, WA
http://www.laconnerquilts.com/

LaJolla FiberArts Gallery – LaJolla, CA
http://lajollafiberarts.com/gallery.htm

Lancaster Quilt and Textile Museum – Lancaster, PA
http://www.quiltandtextilemuseum.com/

Latimer Quilt and Textile Center - Tillamook, Oregon
http://latimerquiltandtextile.com/

Los Angeles County Museum of Art – Costumes and Textiles – Los Angeles, CA
http://collectionsonline.lacma.org/mwebcgi/mweb.exe?request=browpage&dept=cost

Michigan State University Museum - Great Lakes Quilt Center - East Lansing, MI (quilts not always on exhibit)
http://www.museum.msu.edu/glqc/index.html

Mississippi Valley Textile Museum – Almonte, Ontario
http://www.textilemuseum.mississippimills.com/Information.dwt.htm

Museum of Arts and Design – New York, NY
http://www.madmuseum.org/site/c.drKLI1PIIqE/b.1107977/k.A72A/Mission_Statement.htm

Museum of Contemporary Craft - Portland, OR

http://www.museumofcontemporarycraft.org/index.php

Museum of Fine Arts – Textiles and Costume Institute – Houston, TX
http://mfah.org/main.asp?target=collection&par1=18&par3=63

Musuem of Indian Arts & Culture - Santa Fe, NM

http://www.indianartsandculture.org/

Museum of International Folk Art – Sante Fe, NM
http://www.internationalfolkart.org/

Museum of Our National Heritage – Lexington, MA
http://www.monh.org/Default.aspx?tabid=233

Museum of the American Quilter’s Society – Paducah, KY
http://www.quiltmuseum.org/

National Museum of the American Coverlet – Bedford, PA
http://www.coverletmuseum.org/

National Museum of the American Indian - Washington, DC, Suitland, MD & New York, NY

http://www.nmai.si.edu/

New England Quilt Museum – Lowell, MA
http://www.nequiltmuseum.org/

New Mexico Fiber Arts Trail - The work of more than 200 New Mexico fiber artists awaits you at 71 destinations along the trails.
http://www.nmfiberarts.org/?view=download

Pennsylvania State Museum – Harrisburg, PA – has almost 200 quilts dating from the 1800’s to the present
http://www.statemuseumpa.org/quilts05new/pages/home.htm

People’s Place Quilt Museum – Intercourse, PA
http://www.ppquiltmuseum.com/

Philadelphia Museum of Art – Textile Collection – Philadelphia, PA
http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/

Quilter’s Hall of Fame – Marion, IN
http://www.quiltershalloffame.net/index.html

Rensselaer County Historical Society – Costume & Textile – Troy, NY
http://www.rchsonline.org/co_ct.htm

Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum – Golden, CO
http://www.rmqm.org/

San Jose Quilt Museum (same as the American Museum of Quilts and Textiles)
http://www.sjquiltmuseum.org/

Shelburne Museum – Shelburne, VT – has over 400 18th and 19th century American quilts
http://www.shelburnemuseum.org/collections/detail.php?id=9

TAI Gallery – Textile Arts – Santa Fe, NM
http://www.textilearts.com/

Texas Museum of Fiber Arts (TMFA) – Austin, TX
http://www.texasfiberarts.org/

Textile Center of Minnesota – Minneapolis, MN
http://www.textilecentermn.org/

Textile Museum – Washington, DC
http://www.textilemuseum.org/

Textile Museum of Canada – Toronto, Ontario
http://www.textilemuseum.ca/

Toadlena Trading Post Weaving Museum - Newcomb, NM

http://www.toadlenatradingpost.com/show_gen.asp

University of Minnesota – Goldstein Museum of Design – Saint Paul, MN
http://goldstein.che.umn.edu/collections/textile.html

Virginia Quilt Museum
http://www.folkart.com/museums/m_vqm.htm

Windham Textile and History Museum – focus is on the cotton thread manufacture – Willimantic, CT
http://www.millmuseum.org/

Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Arts – Cedarburg, WI
http://www.wiquiltmuseum.com/

NOTE: Liz Plummer has used GoogleMaps to create a useful tool that visually locates Textile Museums worldwide. The one of France was compiled by France Patchwork .
http://lizplummer.com/blog/google-maps-of-textile-museums/

Artists in the Workforce 1990 - 2005

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has just released its publication Artists in the Workforce 1990 - 2005, a look at the demographic and employment patterns of artists nationwide in the 21st century. The data shows that artists are one of the largest worker classes, numbering over 2,000,000 and representing 1.4% of the U. S. work force.

Dana Gioia (NEA Chairman) states: "America tends to see its artists as visionaries, rebels, outsiders, and eccentrics. These longstanding stereotypes...misrepresent American artists and even contribute to their marginalization in society."

Key findings noted in the Executive Summary [emphasis added]:

1. Nearly two million Americans are artists.
   
2. The number of artists has kept pace with the growth in the overall labor force.
   
3. Artists remain highly concentrated in urban areas.
   
4. The artist population, like the labor force, is becoming more diverse.
   
5. Artists are generally more educated than the workforce as a whole.
   
6. Artists are 3.5 times more likely than other workers to be self-employed.
   
7. Fewer artists have full-year, full-time jobs than other workers.
   
8. Artists generally earn less than workers with similar levels of education.
   
9. Women remain underrepresented in several artist occupations.
   
10. The West and South have seen the greatest growth in artists by state.

Unfortunately, but sadly not surprisingly, the report also shows that women artists earn far less than their male counterparts - the 2003-2005 median income for male artists was $42,000; the 2003-2005 median income for women artists was $27,300, or 35% less(sigh).

NEA Summary
http://www.arts.endow.gov/news/news08/ArtistsinWorkforce.html

New York Times article about the report:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/12/arts/12nea.html

To read the report in full:

http://www.nea.gov/research/ArtistsInWorkforce.pdf

To read the Executive Summary:

http://www.arts.endow.gov/research/ArtistsInWorkforce_ExecSum.pdf

Art Vandals

As artists, we tend to be so very trusting - of the curator, of the museum or gallery - of the public. We're ecstatic when our work is sought for or juried into an exhibition and usally send off our work with only a nagging concern about its safe arrival during transit, finally breathing a deep sigh of relief when it arrives safely at its destination.

More and more often, however, art is being deliberately vandalized while on exhibit. I've just learned that only this past week an artwork of a well known textile artist has been slashed beyond any hope of repair while on exhibit at a museum. I also know about another artist's work being slashed to steal its embellishments (also while on exhibit at a museum). Mind you, these were not politically themed works.

The brazenness with which these acts are committed and the utter contempt for both the art and the artist which they symbolize are unfathomable to me - nonetheless, this is the world in which we live and these are the risks we take. Even the best and most reputable venues may not have enough staffing, surveillance equipment, or barriers in place to prevent such occurrences. Bottom line - we must each think long and hard about each exhibit opportunity presented to us, we must ask pointed questions about security, then carefully weigh the downsides as well as the benefits before we accept.

Following is a list of articles on the subject that demonstrate how rampart this problem has become for the art world in general.

Artist Checklist: Claims for Damaged Work - SNAG - Society of North American Goldsmiths - This is a resource that every exhibiting artist should know about - it provides detailed information about what to do if your art is damaged during shipping or while on exhibit.

http://www.snagmetalsmith.org/.docs/pg/400/rid/10024/f/Claims_for_Damaged_Work.pdf

Why Art Vandals Strike - Katrina Kuntz
http://www.fnewsmagazine.com/2005-nov/features_2.html

It Wasn't Like This When I Brought It In - Cindy Ellen Hill - an article about gallery damage to a consigned artwork
http://www.fineartregistry.com/articles/art-legalities/includes/pdf_gallery-damage.pdf

Carnegie Museum of Art Painting Vadalized by Employee
http://www.wpxi.com/news/16513055/detail.html?rss=burg&psp=news

Art Institute Painting Slashed - Charles Storch
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-defaced-painting-0610jun10,0,1173003.story

Damaged-art Claims Rise at Overcrowded Museums - M. P. McQueen
http://www.postgazette.com/pg/06228/714261-42.stm

Dutch Vandal Slashes Museums' Confidence - Carol Vogel
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9404E6D6143AF934A15752C1A961958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

Unlucky 13 - this article is about the vandalization of 13 artworks - John Hind
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2008/01/31/2003399700

3 Arrested in Art Museum Vandalism [Milwaukee Museum of Art] - John Diedrich
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=325072

Art as a Target for Vandals: The Cost of Freedom - Michael Kimmelman
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/10/15/arts/vandals.php

5 People Face Preliminary Charges in Vandalism of Monet Painting at Paris Museum
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/11/europe/EU-GEN-France-Monet-Vandalism.php

Why Vandalize Art?
http://www.sgallery.net/artnews/2007/12/03/why-vandalize-art.html

Effects of Alcohol Intake and Induced Frustration upon Art Vandalism
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3852/is_200001/ai_n8883641

And let us not forget that incident at Houston when a person with whom the artist had a dispute threw bleach onto her work

Textile Related Tutorials

Artists in general and textile artists in particular (as a rule) are very generous with sharing their knowledge and techniques (for example, the earlier post on Texturizing Fabrics). Following is a series of online textile related tutorials that cover a broad spectrum of interests:

Without a doubt, one of the most generous of all is N. Renee West with her blog, FEmbellish Journal. Through it she shares all of her techniques and provides a multiplicity of step-by-step tutorials on just about anything textile art related you can think of. Due to a need to refocus her priorities because of the intervention of personal life issues, her blog has not been updated since October, 2007. Don’t let that deter you. This is a tremendous resource. Read through it all. NOTE – there is a category listing on the left side of the blog to help you locate particular posts of interest. There also is a search engine.
http://fembellish.wordpress.com/

Sonjified Fabric Painting – Sonji Hunt
http://sonjisays.blogspot.com/2006/08/sonjified-fabric-painting_10.html

More Fabric Painting – Sonji Hunt
http://sonjisays.blogspot.com/2006/03/another-fabric-painting-tutorial.html

Textile Painting Techniques – Laura Liebenberg provides a 32 page document that explores Reverse Stamping, Printing, Screenprinting, Mixed techniques, Monoprinting, Applying Paint with a Card, Stencilling, Silk Painting, Sun Painting, Blotching, and Scratching.
http://www.trapsuutjies.com//documents/Trapsuutjies_Fabric_Paint_Techniques.pdf

Fabric Painting Tips (Mostly for Beginners) – Vicky Taylor-Hood
http://seastrands.wordpress.com/2006/06/28/fabric-painting-tips-mostly-for-beginners/

Grommetization – Sonji Hunt – How to hang work using grommets
http://sonjisays.blogspot.com/2006/02/grommetization-very-technical-tutorial.html

How to Mount a Small Quilt onto Foam Core – Liz Plummer
http://lizplummer.com/blog/2007/07/04/how-to-mount-a-small-quilt-on-to-foam-core/

How to Make a Concertina Book – Liz Plummer
http://lizplummer.com/blog/2005/12/20/how-to-make-a-concertina-book/

Machine Trapunto – ABC’s of Quilting – Trapunto 101 Part 1 - Patsy Thompson - This is a 7 1/2 minute YouTube vidcast
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_wgE74Mro4&mode=related&search

Machine Trapunto – ABC’s of Quilting – Trapunto 101 Part 2 - Patsy Thompson - This is an 8 1/2 minute YouTube vidcast
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZracYi4ooI&mode=related&search

Fabric Scanning: A How-To Tutorial – Part 1 - How to Prepare Fabric for Scanning and Correcting Common Fabric Scan Problems - Gloria Hanson
http://www.gloriahansen.com/scan.html#anchor944077

Fabric Scanning: A How-To Tutorial – Part 2 - How to Add Fabric to the Canvas Ink Palette, and how to Correct Tiled Edges - Gloria Hanson
http://www.gloriahansen.com/scan1.html

Fabric Scanning: A How-To Tutorial – Part 3 - Scanning Resources - Gloria Hanson
http://www.gloriahansen.com/scan2.html

Into the Hands of Quiltmakers: Inkjet Printing on Fabric – Gloria Hansen
http://www.gloriahansen.com/articles.php?p=1&ID=3

Quilting, Computing, and Your Health – Gloria Hansen
http://www.gloriahansen.com/articles.php?p=1&ID=1

Adding Metal Weights to a Wallhanging – Gloria Hansen
http://www.gloriahansen.com/weblog/?cat=15

Bubble Printing Tutorial – Susan Sorrell
http://www.joggles.com/bubble-printing-tutorial.htm

Seamless Binding – Dena Crane – Dena writes, “Seams can be very ugly in bindings made of solid colors and smooth textures. Seams in bindings are also most unnecessary!” She provides a very detailed and an extensive tutorial with many illustrations.
http://denacrain.com/blog/?page_id=22

Silk Fusion – Karen Selk –excellent pictures and step-by-step instructions
http://www.treenwaysilks.com/inout_fusion.html

Silk Fusion – Sue Bleiweiss
http://www.joggles.com/silk-fusion-tutorial.htm

Angelina Fibers – Sue Bleiweiss
http://www.joggles.com/angelina-tutorial.htm

Hot Water Stabilizers 101 – Sue Bleiweiss
http://www.fibreandstitch.com/pdf/stabilizer.pdf

Embellisher Cords – Sue Bleiweiss
http://www.fibreandstitch.com/pdf/embellishercord.pdf

Circle Stitching Tutorial – Terri Stegmiller
http://www.fibreandstitch.com/pdf/circle.pdf

Rubbing Plates [How to make] – Terri Stegmiller
http://www.fibreandstitch.com/pdf/rub_plate.pdf

Framing: Step-by-Step Tutorial – Pat Dolan
http://patsartjournal.blogspot.com/2007/01/framing-step-by-step-tutorial.html

Follow-up on Framing Tutorial – Pat Dolan
http://patsartjournal.blogspot.com/2007/01/follow-up-on-framing-tutorial.html

Carve Your Own Rubber Stamp – Alma Stoller
http://almastoller.typepad.com/almastoller/2007/09/carved-your-own.html

Fabric Painting – Alma Stoller
http://almastoller.typepad.com/almastoller/2007/10/fabric-painti-1.html

How to Ruche – Rose Rushbrooke
http://www.roserushbrooke.com/how-to-ruche.html

Thread Painting – Marilyn Nepper
http://www3.telus.net/mnepper/tutorial_thread_painting.html

Thread Painting Techniques – Nancy Prince
http://www.nancyprince.com/technique2.aspx

How to Felt Soap
http://www.mielkesfarm.com/felt_soap.htm

Making Felted Beads – Jane Dunnewold
http://www.artclothstudios.com/Tips-Techniques/Beads/beads.html

How to Mount Quilts on Plexiglass
http://fibermania.blogspot.com/2005/07/how-to-mount-quilts-on-plexiglass.html

Art Cloth Display Guidelines – Jane Dunnewold
http://www.artclothstudios.com/Essays_/Cloth_Display_Guidelines/cloth_display_guidelines.html

Self-Portrait Stencil – Debra Cooper
http://littleblackkitty.typepad.com/a_little_imagination_and_/2007/06/tutorial_selfpo.html

Dyed Paper Towels for Paper and Fiber Arts – Debra Cooper – Note: it says Part II, but Part I is about dyeing fabric trims and seems to have little relationship to this tutorial
http://littleblackkitty.typepad.com/a_little_imagination_and_/2008/05/tutorial-part-2.html

Fusing the Quilt Top - Melody Johnson
http://fibermania.blogspot.com/2006/02/fusing-quilt-top-finished-quilt-top-is.html

How I Fuse a Design - Melody Johnson
http://fibermania.blogspot.com/2006/01/psst-two-new-workshops-are-now.html

Fusing 101 - Melody Johnson
http://www.fibermania.blogspot.com/2005/03/fusing-101_10.html

Fusing with Liquifuse – Terry Grant
http://andsewitgoes.blogspot.com/2006/04/my-fusing-method.html

Basic Fusible Appliqué
http://needlesongs.com/Download/BFA.pdf

Bondaweb Techniques
http://www.art-e-zine.co.uk/bondatuto.html

How to Create Fusible Webbing Backgrounds – Trish Bayley
http://www.angelfire.com/art2/ccnl/35/CCNIssue35.html

Special Effects: Mossing; Whip Stitch; Feather Stitch; Cable Stitch; Fringing
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/shows_qlt/article/0,1805,HGTV_3876_3005650,00.html

Bleach on Fabric Tutorial – Phelyx
http://www.stencilrevolution.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18221&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

NOTE: Please let me know about any other online tutorials you think should be shared in a follow-up article

Arts Policies of U.S. Presidential Candidates

The arts policies of the presumptive candidates of the Democratic and Republican parties are important to consider. ArtsVote 2008 (a program of the Americans for the Arts Action Fund) inivted each presidential candidate to detail their positions on art and art education and provided them with a Pro-Arts Policy Brief that candidates could adopt or use as a base for development of their own.

ArtsVote 2008 Pro-Arts Policy Brief: A Bold New Vision for the Arts

http://www.artsactionfund.org/pdf/artsvote/ArtsVoteIssueBrief.pdf

Barack Obama Campaign Arts Policy

Policy Brief #1 - http://www.artsactionfund.org/pdf/artsvote/Obamaarts1.pdf
Policy Brief # 2 - http://www.artsactionfund.org/pdf/artsvote/Obamaarts2.pdf
Policy Brief # 3 - http://www.artsactionfund.org/pdf/artsvote/ObamaStatement3b.pdf


John McCain Campaign Arts Policy

To date, none has been established

ArtsVote 2008 Home Page

http://www.artsactionfund.org/artsvote/default.asp