WASHINGTON, D.C. — July 26, 2011 — The Textile Museum and the George Washington University today
announced an affiliation whereby The Textile Museum will move to the George Washington University’s
Foggy Bottom Campus to become a cornerstone of a new museum scheduled to open in mid-2014.
Exhibitions and programs will be presented to the public in a custom-built, approximately
35,000-square-foot museum building located at G and 21st streets, bearing the names of both The
Textile Museum and the George Washington University Museum. The new museum will include dedicated
galleries for The Textile Museum, with increased exhibition space compared to its present
facilities. Until the new museum opens, The Textile Museum will continue operating at its current
location.
In addition to the new museum, the university today announced that it will construct a
20,000-square-foot conservation and resource center on its Virginia Science and Technology Campus
in Loudoun County, Va., for the study and care of The Textile Museum and the university’s
collections. This center will include storage facilities, a conservation laboratory and facilities
for access to the collection.
The affiliation with the university will allow The Textile Museum to expand its rich
tradition of scholarship, education and fostering cultural understanding as it broadly integrates
its activities into the far-reaching GW academic community.
In this unprecedented arrangement between a university museum and an existing art museum, The
Textile Museum will continue management of its internationally acclaimed collection of more than
18,000 objects, which will be on perpetual loan to the university. The agreement, pending final
approval by both Boards of Trustees, also specifies that Textile Museum staff will continue to
develop exhibitions and programs that align with the current mission, which will remain the same
after moving to the new location.
Posted on July 28, 2011
Source: George Washington University/PRNewswire
