Please consider supporting the Textile Society of America’s efforts towards outreach and connectivity by making a contribution to our year end campaign. 2019 has been a year of major growth and planning in preparation for our upcoming 16th Biennial Symposium Hidden Stories/Human Lives, which will take place in Boston, MA, October 14-18, 2020.
The symposium is our most impactful event, and integrates with the work we do all year long. Our 2018 Symposium in Vancouver had 415 attendees, including 162 presenters. Ninety-one of them received fee waiver scholarships through TSA. As we reach out to emerging members of the field and people who have faced barriers to participation in the past, we are dedicated to providing financial support.
In this off-symposium year, some connective threads between your feedback from Vancouver and planning for Boston included:
- Convening a panel of emerging and established professionals at the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia to discuss the future of Textiles. Over thirty participants joined to listen to our panel of artist-advocates of color who expressed a perspective that insisted on equity across the field and encouraged diffuse opinions.
- Collaborating with the Journal of Textile Design, Research and Process on an issue compiled from outstanding symposium presentations. This partnership provided a publication opportunity for our members to reach new audiences with their work.
- Planning for a refresh of our website to make our wealth of information more easily accessible for our members located all around the globe. We currently have 98 video presentations from past symposia available online for free in addition to 1,123 open-access proceedings papers. Through the hard work of board volunteers, our events calendar and opportunities for our members are robust, and we continue to reach more people with a passion for textiles via social media.
This year, we also invite you to contribute directly to the Research Travel Grant Fund, established by TSA Past President Elena Phipps and Alan Finkel. Our first grant awardees who received support to study textile object in person were selected this July.
In order to meet our commitment to more diverse voices at the 2020 Symposium, we come to you for support hoping your allegiance to TSA will inspire and galvanize your continued support. TSA relies on you to make this organization the most relevant textile organization in our field. If you are willing to partner with us on our quest for new, disparate members who complement and enrich our current organization, please consider adding 20% to your already generous contribution.
Sincerely,
Textile Society of America’s Board and Staff
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