The Textile Center of MN
The Textile Center of Minnesota facility features fiber art galleries with rotating exhibitions, an artisan shop that supports working artists, a 300-seat auditorium, classrooms, and the Textile Center Pat O’Connor Library, one of the nation’s largest circulating textile libraries open to the public. Also included is the Ellen Erede Wells Dye Lab, the natural dye plant garden A Garden to Dye For, and staff offices. The flagship exhibition space, the Joan Mondale Gallery, is named after Joan “Joan of Art” Mondale. The wife of Vice President Walter Mondale was a major proponent of craft as art.
Member Benefits
- 10% discount in the Textile Center Shop plus special offers throughout the year
- Borrowing/check out privileges in the Textile Center Pat O’Connor Library of 30,000 books, periodicals, media materials, and textile tools
- Discounts on more than 150 classes, lectures, seminars and workshops a year
- Inclusion of your artwork in our annual member exhibition, A Common Thread
- 50%+ discount on facility rental, including meeting rooms and 300 seat auditorium
- Higher commission rate as an artist in the Textile Center Shop
- Discounts at participating retailers
History
Textile Center is unique as a national center for fiber art. Fiber artists and visionary arts patrons started the organization, which was incorporated as a nonprofit in 1994. Before that, local artists and guilds operated in isolation and faced limited opportunities to exhibit work, expand participation, or pursue advanced training. Textile Center’s first decade drew disparate groups into a coalition and answered fiber artists’ need for space to meet, exhibit, teach, and learn. Instrumental in this effort was one of the founders of Textile Center: Margaret Miller – the organization’s executive director for its first 18 years of existence.
Textile Center of Minnesota
“Once you step into Textile Center, you belong.” – Artist Candy Kuehn, at a Strategic Planning Community Session, 2015
A national center for fiber art, Textile Center’s mission is to honor textile traditions, promote excellence and innovation, and inspire widespread participation in fiber art.
Textile Center of Minnesota Board and Staff
The Textile Center Staff
