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The Textile Museum and the George Washington University |
The Textile Museum is joining with the George Washington University to become a cornerstone of a new museum scheduled to open in fall 2014 on GW’s main campus in Foggy Bottom. The affiliation positions The Textile Museum to educate the next generation of textile enthusiasts and expand on its rich tradition of art, education, scholarship, and fostering cultural understanding.
Exhibitions and programs will be presented to the public in a custom-built, approximately 46,000-square-foot museum building located at G and 21st Streets NW, bearing the names of both The Textile Museum and the George Washington University Museum. The new museum will include gallery space for The Textile Museum, the Arthur D. Jenkins Library for the Textile Arts, and The Textile Museum Shop. In addition to the downtown location, GW is constructing a collections and conservation resource center on its Virginia Science and Technology Campus in Loudoun County, Virginia, with 22,000 square feet of space for the storage, study, and care of museum's collections.
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. Visit the online calendar for the most up-to-date list of events.
A New Museum Model
Envisioning the Future: Plans for Washington D.C.'s Newest Cultural Destination
Time-Lapse Videos of Construction
The Textile Museum and George Washington University in the News
Estimated Timeline
Moving the Museum's Collections
Support the Museum |
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A New Museum Model
Through its affiliation with a university, The Textile Museum—with its near 100-year history of public service and acclaimed scholarship—is forging a new model for a dynamic museum. The Textile Museum will continue to present exhibitions and programs, and will also seek collaborations with disciplines across the university’s academic community—resulting in stimulating opportunities for learning and research. Innovative collaborations are already taking shape; in the spring of 2012 Textile Museum curators taught a GW graduate-level art history seminar titled “Textiles and Politics,” and in February 2013, The TM teamed up with GW’s chemistry department for The TM's Mid-Winter Family Festival, allowing families to explore the science of textiles using microscopes. |
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Envisioning the Future: Plans for Washington, D.C.'s Newest Cultural Destination
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The museum from 21st Street. |
The historic Woodhull House. |
The collections and conservation resource center in Virginia. |
The museum will incorporate both a new signature building (facing 21st Street NW) and the historic Woodhull House (facing G Street NW) and is located adjacent to GW's University Yard. With 4 levels above ground (reaching 65 feet) and 2 below-ground levels, there will be roughly 3 times the amount of gallery space currently available at The TM. In addition to galleries, the museum will include a learning center, a program room, the Arthur D. Jenkins Library for Textile Arts, as well as staff office and exhibition preparation areas.
The new collections and conservation resource center will be on the Virginia Science and Technology Campus in Loudoun County, and will be an environmentally controlled structure designed for the long-term protection, study, and care of the collections of The Textile Museum, The Albert H. Small Washingtoniana Collection, and the university. The center will provide conservation and behind-the-scenes support for the public exhibitions and programs occurring at the new museum facility opening in Fall 2014 at the university's Foggy Bottom Campus.
More renderings are available at gwu.edu/textilemuseum.
View timelapse videos of the construction progress:
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The Textile Museum and the George Washington University in the News
Read the latest Textile Museum press releases.
Textile Museum displays ethnic weaving from Southeast Asia before its move to GW campus
The Washington Post, April 14, 2013
Groundbreaking set for Textile Museum’s new home in DC at George Washington University
AP, October 6, 2012
Textile Museum to get new home
The Washington Post, October 4, 2012
George Washington University Museum Approved by Zoning Commission
GW Today, July 2, 2012
Nothing Like the Real Thing
GW Today, April 5, 2012 |
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Estimated Timeline
- Oct. 18, 2012: Groundbreaking ceremony on the Foggy Bottom Campus.
- Winter 2012: Excavation of the Foggy Bottom museum site and the Va. collections and conservation resource center.
- Summer 2013: The museum reaches ground level.
- April 12, 2013: Out of Southeast Asia: Art That Sustains opens at The Textile Museum on S street.
- Fall 2013: The museum reaches its highest point, construction on the Va. collections and conservation resource center is complete.
- October 13, 2013: Out of Southeast Asia: Art That Sustains closes, and The Textile Museum begins new hours.
- The Textile Museum Shop will be open Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. beginning October 14
- Select programs will continue to be offered on S street and at GW.
- Winter 2014: Textile Museum staff begin moving the collections to the Va. collections and conservation resource center.
- Fall 2014: The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum opens to the public.
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Montera, Bolivia, dept. Chuquisaca, TM 1982.43.21. Latin American Research Fund. |
Moving The Textile Museum’s Collections
The Textile Museum collections encompass over 19,000 artifacts, and each piece is carefully safeguarded by our collections and conservation staff for the benefit of future generations. The move of the collection to a new, climate-controlled collections storage facility is an exciting prospect, and an opportunity that requires much preparation.
TM staff have been preparing the collection for its new home since January 2012. The first step in the process is a comprehensive survey of the collection to assess location, current storage, and future needs of the collection. As of November 2012, over 11,000 pieces have been surveyed.
The collections survey was featured in The Textile Museum Members' Magazine, Winter 2013 issue. Read the full article on issuu.
Follow the Collections
Move on Tumblr
Staff and interns working on the survey enjoy the chance to see pieces of the collection not often exhibited. Peek into our storage rooms yourself through visiting our tumblr page: http://textile-museum.tumblr.com/ |
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Support The Textile Museum
Preparing for The Textile Museum’s bright future takes considerable resources. Textile Museum is responsible for the costs of moving its collections, as well as many of the equipment needs at the new facilities – from conservation lab equipment to library shelving.
Once at GW, The Textile Museum will still rely on generous contributions from donors, members, and institutional funders to support its exhibitions, programs, scholarship, collections care, and staff. While the university will cover facilities and maintenance costs for The Textile Museum’s new home, The TM will continue to support its programmatic budget through fundraising.
To learn how you can support our move and our future work, contact Eliza Ward, director of development, at eward@textilemuseum.org or 202-667-0441 ext. 11.
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To read more about this affiliation and the George Washington University Museum, please visit www.gwu.edu/textilemuseum. |
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