Textile Hive

A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who joined us for our community opening. We were enjoying the event so much we forgot to take photos 🙃 It was such a pleasure to share the space and welcome you into our new living archive. We truly felt Andrea’s spirit celebrating with us throughout the evening.

A special thank you as well to our small but talented team, who devoted so much energy to making the event happen, and to for nourishing us with such delicious food.

It was especially meaningful to see so many familiar faces who have supported our collection and Portland TextileX Month over the years. While we are still building additional storage and display cases for the space, we are excited to enter this next phase of activating it and hosting more programs. More to come soon on that front soon…

A special shoutout as well to and for the snazzy name tags, which were delicately embroidered by our talented intern .sewing

If you were not able to attend one of our opening events, we would love to welcome you to one of our Sunday tours. Please join us by registering through the link in our bio.

❤️🙏

Travel Postcards: Liberty London

Our final stop on this summer’s European visit was the iconic Liberty department store in London, a fitting close to a journey rooted in textiles, history, and creative community.

The I Am. We Are. Liberty. exhibition celebrates 150 years of , a legacy interwoven with innovation, collaboration, and bold pattern design. Liberty was also one of our collection’s notable clients over the years, and it was a special treat to see materials from their extraordinary archives.

Curated by Sarah Campbell and writer Charlie Porter, the exhibition invites visitors to explore Liberty’s story through the voices of those who have shaped and been shaped by it. Their vision emphasized openness and creativity, spotlighting the connections between archive, experimentation, and community.

We especially appreciated the inventive use of shape and pattern throughout the show and how it highlighted the role of artists, designers, and makers across generations. The original artwork created for fabric development was stunning, and we loved how the exhibit was woven throughout the historic Liberty building itself, letting each floor unfold as part of the story.

A visit to Liberty is always a treat, but be careful of your wallet as their wares are quite irresistible.

Thank you 🙏 for following along with our travel posts. We hope they inspire you to visit museums, archives, retail spaces and galleries near and far that reimagine how cultural materials and collections can be engaged.