About Textile Center
Textile Center is a national center for fiber art. Its mission is to honor textile traditions and promote excellence and innovation in fiber art. Textile Center represents and supports fiber artists working in all forms of textile media including weaving, quilting, knitting, sewing, needlework, lace making, basketry and beading. A critical part of Textile Center's mission is to bring validation and visibility to this field of art. Textile arts arise from all cultures and the Textile Center works to preserve traditional forms as well as to encourage experimentation and the development of new fiber art forms.
Through exhibitions, education programs and textile arts resources, Textile Center:
- Promotes fiber art as a living art form that is rooted in every culture.
- Supports the creative development of fiber artists.
- Sustains the textile art community.
Textile Center is located in the Prospect Park neighborhood in Minneapolis. Our facility features a gallery and shop, flexible 300-seat auditorium and classroom space, textile library, dye lab and office space. The Weavers Guild of Minnesota is an anchor tenant. The Textile Center is the first facility in Minnesota that represents all fiber art forms, and it is the only center in the United States that is formed by a coalition of the textile community.
We are a membership organization and our members include fiber artists, textile arts guilds, fiber art businesses and fiber art enthusiasts from around the world. We welcome people of all ages and artistic abilities to join and participate in Textile Center activities.
Miller Has Been a Long-Time Fiber Arts Champion.
 Textile Center has announced that Executive Director Margaret Miller will be retiring on July 1, 2012. Miller was instrumental in forming Textile Center, and she has been the only executive director during Textile Center’s 18-year history.
Miller organized the coalition of fiber art guilds and artists that led to the development of Textile Center and its core membership. She spearheaded the capital campaign for its facility which opened in 2001. Since then, the organization and its programs have flourished under Miller’s leadership. Textile Center has grown to become a leader in the field of fiber art, garnering national and international praise for its fiber art exhibitions, education services and facility resources including its state-of-art dye lab and library.
“Margaret has a passion for fiber art that has served the region very well,” stated Ruth Stephens, board president. “She truly embodies the mission of Textile Center to honor textile traditions and promote excellence and innovation in fiber art. Her ability to meld the casual craftsman, established artist, textile enthusiast and donors into a flourishing single community was a great feat. Through her attention to artistic and administrative details, she has built a strong and vibrant organization that is a true gem. Margaret has brought Textile Center to the point where program and space needs have outpaced the present location and the organization is gearing up for expansion. With the exciting changes Central Corridor Light Rail will bring to our neighborhood, Textile Center’s next decade should be just as dynamic as this past decade.”
“Textile Center is on the cusp of a new and exciting chapter in its development,” said Miller. “Now is the perfect time for someone with new energy, vision and passion to step in and take Textile Center to its next stage, continuing to fulfill our dreams. It has been an honor to serve this vibrant community of talented fiber artists.”
Following her retirement, Miller plans to pursue a long-term goal of providing volunteer services overseas.
Textile Center board of directors and its transition committee are undertaking a search process and plan to name a new executive director before Miller’s departure in July.
Honoring textile traditions and promoting excellence and innovation in fiber art.
|
