Textile Arts Council
In support of the Textile Department
of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
We are a support group of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco with the goal of advancing the appreciation of the Museums' textile and costume collections.
A Bay Area forum that provides lecturers, workshops, events and travel opportunities for artists, designers, aficionados and collectors of ethnic textiles, rugs, tapestries, Western costume, and contemporary fiber art.
All Power To The People
(after Man with Afro, San Francisco, California by Leon A. Borensztein, 1984)
2023 Bisa Butler
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
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Calendar
Lectures, Tours and Workshops
Upcoming
Fall Lecture Series 2025
Join us this September as we begin a new season dedicated to artists, experts and thought leaders of our time.
Joe Cunningham, master quilter and leader in the field
Presenter, May 2025
Tour
Saturday, August 16th
Tour the Exhibits of Kay Sekimachi and Virginia Davis
Join the Textile Arts Council for a private tour led by the curator Melissa Leventon.
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Saturday, August 16th, 11:00am-12:00pm
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San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles
520 South 1st Street, San Jose
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TAC Members $30, non-members $35
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The price includes admission and $25 of the ticket fee goes to the museum to help sponsor the exhibit.
Kay Sekimachi, Ogawa II, 1969. Translucent nylon monofilament, glass beads, plastic tubing. Six-layered weave.
Collection of Forrest L. Merrill. Photo by Ellin Klor
Kay Sekimachi: Ingenuity and Imagination
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This exhibit showcases more than 40 of Kay Sekimachi’s works from Berkeley collector Forrest L. Merrill’s comprehensive holdings, a represention across every decade of this internationally renowned Bay Area artist’s long career. Sekimachi combined influences from her Japanese heritage and early training in painting and drawing with a thorough exploration and mastery of complex technique. On view are ethereal hanging sculptures; delicate, origami-like printed artist “books,” bright seamless lidded boxes; abstract textile wall hangings; and weightless bowls and baskets made of Japanese paper and desiccated leaves that push the boundaries of what might be considered a textile. This is a not-to-be-missed chance to see the full scope of this pioneering artist’s work.
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Virginia Davis: Art and Illusion
Art and Illusion celebrates the museum’s recent acquisition of 21 textiles, a generous gift from Davis’ sons that explore Davis’ interest in optic phenomena, art and textile history, and technique. Master weaver Virginia Davis (1929-2023) discovered weaving in the 1970s and over the ensuing 40 years created a significant body of work that manages to be simultaneously elegant and bold.
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The Museum Collection Survey is a dive into Kay Sekimachi's contemporaries and weavers from the California weaving movement, selected from the permanent collection. The curator of this collection survey, Joyce Ertel Hulbert, is a former staff member and member of SJMQT's Collection Committee 2006 - 2018. Since leaving the Museum in 2013 to return to her art and textile conservation practices, she has been researching and mapping the history of the California textile art movement, and has organized exhibits and built grant proposals to advocate for an online archive of this history.
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At 2:00 pm on the day of our tour at SJMQT, Melissa Leventon will give a 45 minute lecture on Kay Sekimachi's work within the wider context of fiber art in the 20th century. TAC tour participants are cordially invited to attend the lecture.
Viginia Davis,
The Persistence of Vision Series,
1985.
Linen, acrylic. Double ikat,
Gift of the sons of Virginia Davis.
San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles.
Photo by Ellin Klor
Virginia Davis,
Which Side Are You On?
ca. 1992.
Linen, acrylic. Double ikat.
Gift of the sons of Virginia Davis.
San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles.
Photo by Ellin Klor
Lecture
Saturday, June 28th, 2025
‘Este Dechado’
The Making and Meaning of Mexican Samplers
In this richly illustrated presentation Dr. Lynne Anderson will provide an overview of girlhood samplers made in Mexico across time.
Saturday, June 28th, 2025, 10:00am PDT
In Person and Via Zoom
Koret Auditorium, DeYoung Museum
This is a free in-person lecture for all. The lecture will also be streamed and recorded over Zoom for which you can purchase a ticket. A Zoom link will be emailed to all ticket holders before the event begins.
TAC members do not need to purchase a Zoom ticket. A Zoom link will be emailed to you before the event. A recording will be emailed out and available to watch for 14 days following the talk, for TAC members and ticket holders.
Mexican sampler made by Anacleta Galves in 1869. Collection of Lynne Anderson. Image courtesy of the owner.
“Este dechado” means “this sampler.” It is a phrase often found stitched on the schoolgirl samplers of girls and young women living in Mexico. With these words, the young sampler makers ask us to pay attention to their work - look carefully, interpret the meaning, understand the process, and appreciate their accomplishments.
In Mexico, as in all western European countries and their colonies, needlework was an extremely important part of female education – all girls were taught to sew and most were expected to demonstrate their embroidery skills by creating a sampler.
In the 18th- and early 19th-centuries, elaborate dechados made from sumptuous material by daughters of Mexico’s elite socio-economic classes were viewed as testaments to the girls’ religious virtue and a culmination of their needlework instruction.
As the Mexican government assumed more responsibility for the education of its citizens, the making of dechados became more widespread and the importance of fancy needlework gradually changed.
Mexican sampler made by Doña Maria Dolores Palma y Montero in 1826 under the instruction of Doña Josepha Garibai. Private collection. Image courtesy of M. Finkel & Daughter.
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In this richly illustrated presentation Dr. Anderson will provide an overview of girlhood samplers made in Mexico across time – the materials, formats, needlework techniques, instructional sequence, and possible meanings underlying some of Mexico’s distinctive motifs.
In addition, she will introduce a few of the girls who embroidered Mexican samplers; provide insight into the educational options available in urban and rural areas; and discuss the impact of an increasingly secular educational system on the production and appearance of Mexican schoolgirl needlework.
Using images of Mexican dechados from her own collection, as well as collections in Mexico and the United States, Dr. Anderson will present a curated view of Mexican schoolgirl samplers – their making and their meaning.
In Person Premiere
Saturday, June 28th, 2025
Bay Area Fiber Artists Video Premiere
TAC will host the premiere of its newest Bay Area Fiber Artists video, featuring Ana Lisa Hedstrom & Judith Content.
Saturday, June 28th, 2025, 12:00pm - 3:00pm
Attendance is free and open to all.
In person
Kimball Gallery
de Young Museum
50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, San Francisco, CA
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The Textile Arts Council invites you to the premiere of our newest Bay Area Fiber Artists video,
“Ana Lisa Hedstrom & Judith Content: Continuum in Cloth/
Approaches to Contemporary Shibori”
Since 2021 TAC has been producing short videos about exceptional Northern California fiber artists. This is the fourth video in the series. The first three, on artists Alice Beasley, Kay Sekimachi, Jean Cacicedo, and Janet Lipkin, will also be shown. For further reference, they can be viewed on the Textile Arts Council YouTube channel.
After the video showings, meet Ana Lisa and Judith, as well as our other Fiber Archive Artists, with Lucy Arai representing Kay Sekimachi.
We hope that you can join us to celebrate these master craftswomen.
To add to the festivities, we invite you to wear your most fabulous art wear ensemble.
Attendance is free and open to all.
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