Unknown Yoruba Artist, Masquerade Costume, Nigeria, late 20th century By Richard Lor, a fourth-year student in Design Studies, studying Interior Architecture Traditional clothing and garments have always intrigued me. The traditional clothing of my own Hmong culture has significant meaning attached, and items are worn during specific events. In the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection, […]
Embroidered silk kimono, 1930s, Japan, 64×58″ Written by Nghi Tuong, a third year student in the School of Human Ecology, studying Retailing and Consumer Behavior. I chose to write about this Japanese kimono from the 1930s because I have always been attracted to things that are red, so the background color and the beautiful gold […]
Appliqué, embroidery, paint, and weaving, 1900-1949, China, 8x8x7” By Kayla Caldwell, a fourth-year student in Design Studies, studying Textiles and Fashion Design. Stitch by stitch the details of the ox’s face, its rider, and the colorful creatures and flowers that adorned its head all began to fall into place. The time and care put into […]
The new Lynn Mecklenburg Textile Gallery provides a space dedicated to year-round, rotating displays of the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection, making the collection even more accessible to the public. The opening of the gallery on January 27 2019 launched a yearlong anniversary celebration. For 50 years, this nationally-known collection has inspired and informed thousands […]
A Celebration Sampler January 27 – April 14, 2019 Appliqué to Zardozi: A Celebration Sampler, is the first of two major anniversary exhibitions celebrating the breadth and depth of the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection, and featuring an international selection of textile-making techniques. The exhibition’s subtitle, A Celebration Sampler, references historic hand-embroidered samplers traditionally made by […]
Ruth Ketterer Harris Lecture Thursday, November 1, 2018 7 – 8 pm, Room 2235 Nancy Nicholas Hall 1300 Linden Drive, Madison The Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection is pleased to host Prof. Marina Moskowitz as its 2018 Ruth Ketterer Harris Lecturer. Prof. Marina Moskowitz is the Lynn and Gary Mecklenburg Chair in Textiles, Material Culture, […]
The Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection is housed right across from the Ruth Davis Design Gallery on the first floor of Nancy Nicholas Hall. Every 10-12 weeks, the displays in the large windows are rotated out and a new textiles are unveiled. On May 7, floral prints from the 1960s were displayed. Helen Louise Allen Textile […]
Center for Design and Material Culture The Center for Design and Material Culture (CDMC) invites collaboration opportunities from UW-Madison faculty, staff, and students as well as off-campus community members. We give special consideration to proposals that encourage engagement with art, design, built environments and modified landscapes and rely on designed objects as primary sources. Successful […]
Center for Design and Material Culture
Walk by the large window displays on the first floor or Nancy Nicholas Hall, and you’ll see the current exhibit of large-print British textiles from the late 60s and early 70s. According to Natasha Thoreson, Curator and Collections Manager at SoHE, the bold prints represent the Avant Garde style popular at the time in London. […]
The Center aspires to be a hub for exchanging ideas, building skills, and broadly promoting the value of objects to enrich our understanding. Our affiliates form a community and are an essential part of our mission! We hope our affiliates will contribute to, participate in, and benefit from our Center programs and join us in […]
With the now ubiquitous nature of smartphones and internet access, new opportunities to collaborate around the world are possible. During the Fall 2016 semester, students enrolled in a textile design class were paired with artisans in the Kutch district of Gujarat, India. With no opportunity to meet in person, 13 design teams used the popular […]
Request to view items in Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection To schedule a visit to the Collection, please fill out and submit this form. Requests need to be submitted at least 2 weeks prior to preferred date of visit. Confirmation of availability will be sent within 3-4 business days. This Collection is open Monday-Friday. Fields […]
Ruth Ketterer Harris Lecture Monday, November 6, 2017 7 – 8 pm, Room 2235 Nancy Nicholas Hall 1300 Linden Drive, Madison The Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection is pleased to host Noa Raviv as its 2017 Ruth Ketterer Harris Lecturer Noa Raviv, an emerging Israeli fashion artist and designer, will speak publicly on “The Power […]
Ruth Ketterer Harris Lecture — Weaving and Innovation Thursday, March 21, 2013 5:30 – 6:30 pm Ebling Symposium Center, Microbial Sciences Building 1550 Linden Drive, Madison The Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection is pleased to host Lia Cook, Professor of Art from the California College of the Arts, as its 2013 Ruth Ketterer Harris Lecturer […]
Ruth Ketterer Harris Lecture — Seven Fibers that Changed the World Thursday, March 6, 2014 5:30 – 6:30 pm Conrad A. Elvehjem Building, Room L160 University of Wisconsin — Madison 800 University Drive, Madison The Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection is pleased to host Patrice George, Assistant Professor in the Fashion Institute of Technology, New […]
Ruth Ketterer Harris Lecture Global Color: Textiles, Dyes, and Colors in the Interwoven Globe, 16th-18th centuries Thursday, March 12, 2015 6 – 7 pm, Room 2235 Nancy Nicholas Hall 1300 Linden Drive, Madison The Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection is pleased to host Dr. Elena Phipps, Senior Research Scholar at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, […]
Ruth Ketterer Harris Lecture — Making: A World of Blue Wednesday, February 24, 2016 6 – 7 pm, Room 2235 Nancy Nicholas Hall 1300 Linden Drive, Madison The Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection is pleased to host Rowland Ricketts, textile artist and associate professor of textiles at Indiana University, as its 2016 Ruth Ketterer Harris […]
CAP Grant The Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection was one of 75 national museums and libraries selected to participate in the inaugural year of the Collections Assessment for Preservation (CAP) program. Administered by the Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artist Works, CAP assists museums in improving the care of their […]
Golden Anniversary Events Madison Knitters Guild: Knit–In at the Link February 28 5:30- 8 pm REGISTRATION REQUIRED – CLICK HERE Happy 117th Birthday, Helen Louise Allen! March 24 Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection 50th Anniversary Symposium: “A Collection That Counts”: The History, Practice, and Future of Textile Collecting April 5 – April 6 Points of […]
Mission The Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection advances understanding of cultures and their history through engagement with textiles for the creative, technical, and educational benefit of scholars from the University and beyond. It is a teaching collection, with over 13,000 textile artifacts spanning 16 centuries and 108 countries. The nucleus of the Collection was a […]
Only a small number of the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection’s 13,000 objects are on display at any given time. The majority of our holdings are carefully stored in a state-of-the-art storage facility adjacent to an environmentally-controlled classroom that is reserved especially for study visits. Like any campus archive, any UW-Madison faculty, student, or staff […]
About the Center The Center for Design and Material Culture (CDMC) is one of five Centers of Excellence within UW-Madison’s School of Human Ecology (SoHE) that promotes human-centered scholarship. In partnership with SoHE’s Design Studies Department the CDMC serves diverse communities of scholars who study, practice, and experience material culture and design as complex relationships […]