A national center for fiber art, Textile Center’s mission is to honor textile traditions, promote excellence and innovation, nurture appreciation, and inspire widespread participation in fiber art. 

Textile Center’s facility features fiber art galleries with rotating exhibitions, an artisan shop which supports working artists, auditorium, classrooms, and the Textile Center Library, one of the nation’s largest circulating textile libraries open to the public. Also included is the Ellen Erede Wells Dye Lab, the natural dye plant garden A Garden to Dye For, and staff offices. The flagship exhibition space, the Joan Mondale Gallery, is named after Joan “Joan of Art” Mondale. The wife of Vice President Walter Mondale was a major proponent of craft as art, and her and her family’s support was critical to Textile Center becoming the national center for fiber art that it is today!

A Vision Woven Together: The History of Textile Center

A community. A shared vision. A home for fiber art.

Every great idea begins with a need — and the belief that something better is possible.

In the early 1990s, fiber artists and textile guilds across Minnesota were working largely on their own. They had few shared opportunities to exhibit their work, access specialized resources, pursue advanced training, or connect with the broader fiber art community.

A group of artists and visionary arts patrons imagined a different future: a place where textile traditions could be celebrated, artistic innovation encouraged, and people brought together through their shared love of fiber.

Textile Center was incorporated as a nonprofit arts organization in 1994. What began as an ambitious idea grew into a vibrant community and, ultimately, a nationally recognized center for fiber art.

Textile Center founders: Carla Adams, Margaret Miller, Paula Pfaff, Nedra Granquist

Founders Carla Adams, Margaret Miller, Paula Pfaff, and Nedra Granquist helped turn that vision into reality. Margaret Miller, Textile Center’s founding executive director, played a pivotal role in bringing artists, guilds, and supporters together around a common purpose.

During its early years, Textile Center operated from an office in St. Paul and organized fiber art exhibitions at venues throughout the region. Behind the scenes, its founders were building relationships across the textile community and searching for a permanent home.

In 2000, they identified a one-story brick building in Minneapolis’s Prospect Park neighborhood. Originally constructed in the 1920s as a Ford automobile showroom, the building offered the potential to create something the region had never had: a gathering place devoted to fiber art.

The renovation revealed architectural features hidden for decades, including clerestory windows, terrazzo floors, and exposed trusses. With the support of more than 1,300 individuals, along with textile guilds, businesses, and foundations, Textile Center surpassed its $2 million capital campaign goal in early 2003.

The building’s opening in 2001 marked a turning point. At last, the textile community had a permanent home—a place to exhibit, teach, learn, make, gather, and share.

Milestones in our story

1994 — A vision becomes an organization

Textile Center is incorporated as a 501(c)3 nonprofit arts organization, bringing artists and textile enthusiasts together around a shared mission.

2000 — A permanent home comes into view

Textile Center identifies its future home in Minneapolis’s Prospect Park neighborhood, a former Ford automobile showroom with the potential to become a gathering place for fiber art.

2001 — Opening the doors

Textile Center opens its new facility, establishing a permanent home for exhibitions, education, resources, and community.

2003 — A community invests in the future

The organization’s first major capital campaign surpasses its $2 million goal, demonstrating the community’s commitment to Textile Center’s future.

2019 — Expanding artist support

The addition of thie McKnight Fellowships for Fiber Artists in 2019 strengthen Textile Center’s role in supporting artistic excellence, professional development, and innovation in the field.

2021 — Listening to the community

A comprehensive stakeholder survey informs the development of Textile Center’s 2022–2027 Strategic Plan, helping shape the organization’s priorities for its next chapter.

2025 — Making materials more accessible

Textile Center launches The Stashery, a secondhand textile materials shop that expands access to supplies and encourages resourcefulness and reuse.

2026 and beyond — Building for the future

Textile Center looks ahead to strengthening its facilities, organizational capacity, and resources to serve artists, learners, and the broader fiber art community for generations to come.