Textile Museum Press Room

Young visitors at a recent TM family program

WHAT: Experience Japanese culture with the whole family at an afternoon festival held at The Textile Museum. This free program, co-presented with the Japan-America Society of Washington, D.C., includes hands-on activities, demonstrations and performances for all ages. Program highlights include:

• Dance performances by Shizumi Minale, a children’s dance troupe
• Introduction to Japanese culture and language
• Station to try on traditional Japanese children’s kimono
• “Chopstick challenge”
• Kamishibai – paper box theater presentations
• Japanese fish and fan decorating
• And much more!

WHEN: Sunday, March 7, 1-5 p.m.

WHERE: The Textile Museum, 2320 S Street NW, Washington DC 20008; Metro: Dupont Circle, Q Street exit

MEDIA CONTACT: Cyndi Bohlin, (202) 667-0441, ext. 78 or cbohlin@textilemuseum.org

Students from Davis Elementary School pose with their work. Photo by Bill Petros.

This spring, thee local elementary and middle school classes in the District of Columbia will have the chance to take a special tour of an upcoming exhibition, and then create a unique piece of textile art to display at The Textile Museum for an entire month. For the sixth year running, The Textile Museum is inviting all 1st to 6th grade public or charter school classes in the District of Columbia to apply for our sixth-annual Museum-School Partnership. Starting in February, The TM will partner with three classes from local schools to learn about The Art of Living: Textile Furnishings from the Permanent Collection (opening February 12, 2010), plan and create a unique textile art project, and exhibit the artwork at the museum during June 2010. Participating classes are also invited to a special recognition ceremony at the annual Celebration of Textiles (June 5 and 6, 2010) – attended by nearly 3,500 people last year.  

 For more information about the project, click here.

To add a teacher you know to our educator’s list, email info@textilemuseum.org.

Many of us leave our holiday shopping until the last minute, but The Textile Museum Shop is holding several events this fall to inspire gift-givers to get a jump start this year. 

The shop— voted as one of the ten best museum stores in the nation’s capital by National Geographic’s “Intelligent Travel” blog—offers a colorful selection of scarves, jewelry, books, fine fabrics and other handmade goods for sale. The stock is constantly changing and always unique. In conjunction with the museum’s two new fall exhibitions, Contemporary Japanese Fashion: The Mary Baskett Collection and Fabrics of Feathers and Steel: The Innovation of Nuno (on view from October 17, 2009 through April 11, 2010), visitors should expect to see fresh exhibition-related items for sale. The TM Shop is the only retailer in the DC Metro area carrying Nuno Corporation products, and its home decor from AMARIDIAN, a group of sub-Saharan designers, was recently featured in The Washington Post’s “Home and Garden” pages. View the press release, or visit http://www.textilemuseum.org/calendar/calendar.htm, for details on upcoming shopping events.

For more information, or to view the press release, CLICK HERE (pdf)

For a holiday shopping product preview, CLICK HERE (pdf)

The National Geographic Society’s Intelligent Travel blog has ranked the TM Museum Shop the sixth best museum store in Washington, DC. Intelligent Travel highlights sustainable travel that “preserves places’ essential uniqueness” and includes travel essays and reviews of businesses and attractions around the world. In a city full of specialty museum gift shops, The Textile Museum Shop was recognized for its welcoming space and the quality of the handmade textiles available for purchase. Visit Intelligent Travel (link to http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/intelligenttravel/2009/07/10-best-museum-gift-shops-in-d.html) to read the review.