TSA Announces “(re)Membering” at MOLAA
The Textile Society of America (TSA) announces its Spring 2026 Colloquium, “(re)Membering,” to be held on April 16, 2026, from 9:00 AM–12:00 PM PDT, at the Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) in Long Beach, California. MOLAA is the nation’s leading museum dedicated to modern and contemporary Latin American art and culture. The Colloquium will be presented in a hybrid format and will include a keynote address, a plenary presentation, and a panel discussion featuring contemporary artists, scholars, and cultural practitioners.
This half-day convening continues TSA’s multi-year engagement with critical dialogue in textile studies, foregrounding the active, present-tense work of cultural memory. Building on “(re)Claiming Narratives” (2022) and “(re)Imagining Futures” (2023), the “(re)Membering” Colloquium poses the question: How are stories and identities actively reassembled through material practice in the present moment?
Featuring (see full bios below)
Keynote Speaker Fafnir Adamites
Plenary Presentation by Maria Maea
Panel Discussion with Yasmin Mora, Maru García, and Katrina Bruins
In-person attendees will receive complimentary admission to MOLAA, and the program will be accessible to a global audience through a live-streamed format. Sessions will be recorded, and registered participants will be notified when recordings are available. Access will be provided for 90 days following release. TSA members receive discounted registration. Sign in below.
Event Details
- Date: April 16, 2026
- Time: 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM PDT
- Location: Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA), Long Beach, CA & Online
- Registration Deadline April 15, 2026
Your registration helps sustain TSA’s our mission to foster the exchange and dissemination of knowledges and experiences about textiles worldwide. Individuals seeking assistance related to accessibility needs are encouraged to contact access@textilesocietyofamerica.org.
Support Accessibility & Impact
Community partnerships make this work possible. Sponsorships are available to directly support critical components of the event, including livestreaming, captioning, speaker honoraria, and digital archiving, ensuring the broadest possible access and long-term impact. Contact the TSA to learn more about underwriting opportunities at hello@textilesocietyofamerica.org.
Colloquium Agenda
8:30 – 8:55 a.m. | Check-in & Doors Open
In-Person at the Viva Event Center – Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA), 628 Alamitos Ave, Long Beach, CA
Virtual Access via Zoom; the waiting room will be open.
8:55 – 9:00 a.m. | Welcome Remarks by Ashley Occhino, TSA Executive Director
9:00 – 9:50 a.m. | Opening Keynote | Fafnir Adamites
10:00 – 10:50 a.m. | Plenary Presentation | Maria Maea
10:50 – 11:00 a.m. | Break & Networking
11:00 – 11:50 a.m. | Panel Discussion featuring Yasmin Mora, Maru García, & Katrina Bruins
11:50 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | Closing Remarks
12:00 – 6:00 p.m. | Gallery Access at MOLAA
In-person attendees will enjoy complimentary admission to MOLAA for the day.
Presenter Bios
Keynote Speaker Fafnir Adamites
Fafnir holds an MFA degree from the Fiber and Material Studies Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BA in Photography and Women’s Studies from UMass Amherst. Fafnir is an Assistant Professor and Head of the Fiber Area at California State University, Long Beach and has taught workshops and intensives at Arrowmont School of Art and Craft, Snow Farm: The New England Craft Program and Women’s Studio Workshop. Their work has been shown nationally, including a recent juried group exhibition of fiber art from Southern California, “Split Ends” at the Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion in Costa Mesa, CA. Fafnir has received several grants to support their exhibitions and studio practice and has been awarded residencies at the Icelandic Textile Center, MASS MoCA, Women’s Studio Workshop and Vermont Studio Center. Fafnir presents artistic talks frequently and recently spoke at Thinking Through Textiles: Future Pedagogies at UCLA and Textile Society of America’s 2024 Symposium Shifts and Strands: Rethinking the Possibilities and Potentials of Textiles. Their research focuses on the intersection of textile archeology, queer making, monuments and feminist theory. They are a Board Member and Co-Chair of the Surface Design Association, a member of The Textile Society of America and North American Hand Papermakers.
fafniradamites.com
@fafniradamites
Plenary Presentation by Maria Maea
Maria utilizes assemblage and process-based figurative sculptures and installations to illuminate the relationship between land and the body, specifically focused on narratives around immigrant families and their labor in Los Angeles. Her research focuses on equitable futures and climate justice through food and water accessibility in marginalized communities.
Through her use of materials such as concrete, rebar, found objects, fruiting plants, seeds, and woven palm fronds foraged across Los Angeles, Maea creates future ancestor sculptures that act as intimate portraits of family and community as well as abstract cartography of the LA urban landscape. Many of her works structurally contain seed pods that over time will crumble to dust, leaving only the viable seed behind. Through the act of propagation and stewardship the artworks become multi-generational. These works seek to expand and complicate our relationship to issues around justice, stewardship, contamination and preservation.
Maea’s most recently awarded: Latinx Artist Fellowship (National Award, 2024-2025) and California Community Fund Fellowship (Los Angeles, 2024-2025). Exhibited at: the air we share, Craft Contemporary (LA, 2025), Life on Earth: Art & Ecofeminism, West Den Haag/ the Brick (Netherlands 2025, LA 2024), At the Edge of the Sun, Jeffrey Deitch Gallery (LA, 2024), Made In LA: Acts of Living, Hammer Museum – biennial exhibition(LA, 2023), Stargazer, Public Sculpture at Los Angeles State Historic Park and LA Nomadic Division (LA, 2023) Acquisitions: All In Time, Hammer Museum – 2024 Mohn Collections.
mariamaea.com
@maeamaria
Panelist Maru García
Maru is a Mexican, LA-based artist/chemist working across art + science + environment. Operating at the intersection of art, science, and the environment, Maru Garcia bridges the gap between empirical research and creative expression. As both an artist and a chemist, her practice is rooted in regenerative art, moving beyond observation to actively engage in restoring the natural world. Her work centers on “seeing the unseen,” or the art of the imperceptible, where she translates complex chemical and biological processes into tangible experiences. By focusing on microbes, plants, and minerals, she studies the interactions between the organic and inorganic to reveal the hidden pulse of our ecosystems.
Garcia’s multidisciplinary approach spans the laboratory, the gallery, and public spaces. She creates objects and experiences that challenge our perception of permanence and address urgent issues such as soil contamination through installation, sculpture, mosaics, video, microscopy, and biomaterial experimentation. Her commitment to environmental justice is realized through community science and participatory art, seeking to heal ecological relations broken by degradation and fostering collective responsibility toward the ecosystems we inhabit.
Maru García’s work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions and conferences across North America, Europe, and Asia.
Her ventures into public art include a large-scale digital piece for the California Natural Resources Agency and a proposal for a sculpture at the Puente Hills Landfill Park, commissioned by the Los Angeles Arts and Culture Department. She was an artist in residence at the National Center of Genetic Resources in Mexico and has been recognized with numerous awards, including the New York Foundation for the Arts ‘Anonymous Was a Woman Environmental Art Grant, the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) Environmental Justice Grant, and the Getty Foundation Grant.
She was part of the Getty Research Institute’s 2019-2020 Scholar program, “Art and Ecology,” and a 2021-2022 artist in residence at the 18th Street Arts Center. She has collaborated with Metabolic Studio since 2023 and is an Associate Research Scientist in Mineral Sciences at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Maru García is the founder of Prospering Backyards. She holds an MFA in Design & Media Arts from UCLA, an MS in Biotechnology, and a BS in Chemistry, both from Tecnológico de Monterrey, México.
marugarciastudio.com
@marugfe
Panelist Katrina Bruins
Katrina’s work in the arts is a testament to her core belief: that arts organizations are at their best when they work together to achieve their collective missions. Katrina Bruins is an experienced nonprofit leader with a strong background in operations, program administration, and cross-border collaboration. As the Executive Director of Visions Museum of Textile Art in San Diego, she has played a key role in strengthening organizational systems and advancing community-centered initiatives. Previously, Katrina held a senior leadership role at an international border shelter, where she managed internal operations for a complex, fast-paced organization. Her work has included overseeing human resources, facilities, volunteer management, and organizational infrastructure while fostering partnerships across borders and sectors. Katrina is known for her ability to build and sustain meaningful community and institutional partnerships, align operational strategy with mission impact, and create collaborative environments that support staff, volunteers, artists, and stakeholders.
vmota.org
@visionsmuseum
Panelist Yasmin Mora
Yasmin Mora creates tactile works that invite viewers to engage with memory, identity, and the emotions that shape lived experience. Rooted in ritual, remembrance, and transformation, her practice weaves together cultural heritage and contemporary design to explore duality, ancestry, and the body as a compass.
Working primarily with handspun, naturally dyed Oaxacan wool, Mora creates large scale tufted textiles that function as visual topographies of feeling. Drawn to the richness of Mexican color, architecture, and craft traditions, she merges ancestral knowledge with modern expression, honoring tradition while embracing fluidity and change. Her practice reflects the complexity of a dual identity shaped by both Mexican and American cultures, finding belonging in the in between.
Through her studio, Umaguma, Mora approaches making as ritual. The act of tufting becomes a gesture of care and devotion, embedding memory and endurance into every fiber. Her work serves as an homage to the women who came before her, particularly her abuelas, whose labor and stories continue through her hands.
Mora’s textiles offer more than visual impact. They create moments of pause and connection. With layered textures, vibrant hues, and the subtle scent of naturally dyed wool, her pieces encourage reflection and invite viewers into a sensory experience that bridges past and present.
umagumastudio.co
@umaguma___
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This program is made possible in part from support from the Teitelbaum Family Fund and Latin American Fund.
