The Textile Museum | Mission & History

Mission & History

Mission Statement
The Textile Museum is dedicated to furthering the understanding of mankind's creative achievements in the textile arts. As a museum, it is committed to its role as a center of excellence in the scholarly research, conservation, interpretation and exhibition of textiles, with particular concern for the artistic, technical and cultural significance of its collections. The mission is pursued through development and maintenance of collections, records and a library, as well as through scholarly research, exhibitions, publications and educational programs. In all of this, the standard of excellence established by the Museum's founder, George Hewitt Myers, will be maintained.

George Hewitt Myers
1875-1957

To learn more about the founder of The Textile Museum and the history of the institution, visit our online exhibition Ahead of His Time: The Collecting Vision of George Hewitt Myers.

Buildings
The Textile Museum is housed in two historic buildings in the Kalorama neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Visitors enter the Museum through the former home of the Museum's founding family which was designed by John Russell Pope in 1913. Since 1925, the Museum's galleries have been located in an adjacent building purchased by George Hewitt Myers for this purpose. Large gardens behind the buildings are open to the public during Museum hours.

For more information on visiting the Museum, click here.

In fall 2009 The Textile Museum will open an expansion site, dedicated to rotating exhibitions and public programs, in downtown Washington, D.C. For more information on this exciting initiative, click here.

History
In 1925 George Hewitt Myers founded The Textile Museum with a collection of 275 rugs and 60 related textiles. Myers collected actively for the Museum until his death in 1957, at which time the collection had grown to encompass the textile arts of Africa, Asia and Latin America. In Myers' time, the Museum was open by appointment only and received several hundred visitors annually. Today, The Textile Museum is one of the world's foremost specialized art museums and receives 25,000 to 35,000 visitors each year from around the world.

An exterior view of The Textile Museum

The Textile Museum garden