Congrats to our 2021 Spun Gold Award Winner:

Carolyn L. Mazloomi

In gratitude and recognition for her curatorial vision and the tireless work on behalf of the We Are the Story initiative Textile Center co-presented with Women of Color Quilters Network (WCQN), as well as for her service as a founding member of our National Artist Advisory Council, we are pleased to award Carolyn L. Mazloomi with Textile Center’s 2021 Spun Gold Award.

The Spun Gold Award is the highest honor Textile Center presents, honoring artists and advocates for a lifetime dedication to fiber art and recognizing extraordinary service to Textile Center and its mission.

Historian, curator, author, lecturer, artist, mentor, founder, and facilitator, Carolyn has worked tirelessly in the field, renowned for her work since the 1980s to bring the many unrecognized contributions of African American quilt artists to the attention of the American people and the international arts community. She has received numerous national honors, and in 2014 was named a National Heritage Fellow by the National Endowment of the Arts.

Since joining Textile Center’s National Artist Advisory Council in 2016, Carolyn has been among my most important mentors. She has encouraged me, in my role as Textile Center’s executive director, to think big, take risks, and trust my instincts as an arts leader.

And when our community faced the horrific murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, Carolyn facilitated our collaborative work with WCQN and friends to assemble and present the seven exhibitions In We Are the Story, as well as our Let’s Talk About Race online community conversations … all produced within months during a global pandemic.

Carolyn inspired us through her “can-do” spirit and her commitment to seize the moment to address racism in America through art quilts. Carolyn’s reputation gave this project immediate national recognition, and inspired other prominent local partners to join us in the effort, including the American Swedish Institute, Weisman Art

Museum, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

We celebrate Carolyn L. Mazloomi and offer our gratitude for her contributions to the vitality and resilience of Textile Center.

– Karl Reichert, Executive Director

Past Spun Gold Winners:

1999
Paul O’Connor – Weaver
Ellen Wells – Textile Art International Gallery Owner
Elsa Sreenivasam – Artist & Teacher
Margot Siegel – Fashion Reporter

2000
Helen Kelly – Quilter
LaVern Bell – Sewer & Teacher
Homa Amir-Fazli – Teacher

2001
Charlene Burningham – Beader, Weaver, Quilter & Teacher

2002
Gladys Raschka – Quilter

2003
Lila Nelson – Weaver

2004
Walter Nottingham – Teacher
Ruth Waukazo – Beader & Teacher

2005
Gini Corrick – Surface Design & Clothing Design

2006
LaVonne Horner – Quilter
Marliss Jensen – Master Dyer & Surface Design
Lotus Stack – MIA Textile Curator
Nancy MacKenzie – Artwear & 3D Sculpture

2007
Anna Smits – Weaver & Teacher
Wilma Gary – Quilter
Thelma Buckner – Quilter

2008
Donna Pauley – Needleworker
Joan Skalbeck – Dyer
Karen Searle – Knitter, Teacher & Publisher

2009
Norma Kenny – Quilter
Mary Temple – Weaver & Teacher

2010
Marj Ford Sethna – Weaver

2011
Susan Stein – Quilter
Diane Fitzgerald – Beader

2012
Paula Pfaff – Weaver
Margaret Miller – Weaver & Founding Textile Center Executive Director

2013
Becka Rahn – Surface Design & Teacher

2020
Carolyn Halliday – Knitter, Teacher, and founding member of Textile Center’s National Artist Advisory Council
Nancy Mambi – Textile Center Librarian
Mary Skoy – Weaver & Teacher
Ginny Smith – Owner of Ginny’s Fine Fabrics