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| Surface Design Association | |
|---|---|
| Name | Surface Design Association |
| Formation | 1979 |
| Type | Nonprofit organization |
| Headquarters | United States |
| Fields | Textile arts; fiber art; surface design |
Surface Design Association The Surface Design Association is an international nonprofit organization supporting artists and designers working with textiles, fibers, and surface treatments. Founded in 1979, the organization connects practitioners, curators, educators, and institutions through publications, exhibitions, conferences, and regional chapters. It has influenced museums, galleries, universities, and biennials, fostering networks among makers, critics, and collectors.
The association emerged amid the late 20th-century resurgence of craft movements signaled by figures and institutions such as Anni Albers, Marian Goodman, Hayward Gallery, Museum of Arts and Design, Cooper Hewitt, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and Penland School of Craft. Early leaders drew on exhibitions like Wall Hangings (1969) at the Museum of Modern Art, curators such as Jack Lenor Larsen, and educators from Rhode Island School of Design, California College of the Arts, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Royal College of Art. The group’s formation paralleled programs at Smithsonian American Art Museum, collaborations with galleries including Galleria Continua, and involvement in events like the Venice Biennale and the São Paulo Art Biennial. Over decades the association intersected with artists and movements represented by institutions such as Tate Modern, Centre Pompidou, Victoria and Albert Museum, and collectors associated with The Phillips Collection.
The organization’s mission aligns with advocacy and professional development practiced by organizations such as National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Council England, Craft Council, Society of Decorative Arts, and The Craft Trust. Activities include supporting practice-based research at universities including Columbia University, Yale University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California, Los Angeles, and Tokyo University of the Arts. Programs collaborate with museums like The Museum of Contemporary Craft, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Baltimore Museum of Art, and festivals such as Renwick Invitational and Fiber Art Now Fair. Partnerships have involved foundations like Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Ford Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, and John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
The association produces periodicals and curatorial catalogs akin to publications by Aperture, October (journal), Artforum, Craft + Design Enquiry, Textile: The Journal of Cloth and Culture, and Surface Design Journal. Issues have featured scholarship referencing authors and critics tied to The New Yorker, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Art in America, Frieze, and monographs from presses like University of Chicago Press, Bloomsbury, Routledge, Thames & Hudson, and Phaidon. Editorial collaborations mirror partnerships with institutions such as Getty Research Institute, Morgan Library & Museum, National Gallery of Art, and Smithsonian Libraries.
Annual conferences and biennial symposia recall major gatherings at venues including Cooper Union, Carnegie Mellon University, University of the Arts London, Glasgow School of Art, and Simmons University. The association has organized thematic exhibitions exhibited at Brooklyn Museum, Walker Art Center, Institute of Contemporary Arts, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Seattle Art Museum, Denver Art Museum, and international nodes such as Serpentine Galleries, Kunsthalle Bern, and Musée d'Orsay. Events have featured jurors and speakers from Whitney Museum of American Art, Guggenheim Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, National Portrait Gallery, and biennales like Istanbul Biennial.
Membership structure resembles networks maintained by American Craft Council, International Council of Museums, Association of Art Museum Curators, and regional bodies such as New York Foundation for the Arts, San Francisco Craft + Folk Art Museum, Midwest Fiber Artists, and Southeast Center for Contemporary Art. Chapters and affiliates operate in cities and regions including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Seattle, Toronto, London, Berlin, Tokyo, Melbourne, Mexico City, Barcelona, and Amsterdam, often collaborating with local centers like Craft Ontario and Australian Tapestry Workshop.
The association administers awards, residencies, and project grants comparable to those from MacArthur Foundation, Fulbright Program, Rhizome Net Art Microgrant, Creative Capital, and museum-sponsored prizes like the Turner Prize or Jameel Prize. It has partnered with residency venues including Djerassi Resident Artists Program, Yaddo, MacDowell Colony, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, and Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Grantees have gone on to receive recognition in contexts such as Pulitzer Prize-adjacent honors, fellowships from National Sculpture Society, and commissions from public arts programs in cities like Chicago, San Francisco, and Philadelphia.
The association’s impact is seen in acquisitions by institutions like Metropolitan Museum of Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, Art Institute of Chicago, and Dallas Museum of Art, and in curricular changes at universities including Pratt Institute, Parsons School of Design, Cornell University, and University of Pennsylvania. Alumni and members have exhibited in contexts ranging from Documenta to Whitney Biennial, and have been written about in outlets such as The Guardian, BBC Culture, New Statesman, and The Atlantic. The organization’s legacy is reflected in expanded collections, curatorial programs at Smithsonian American Art Museum, and ongoing dialogues with international festivals such as Craft Victoria and Munich Textile Biennale.
Category:Organizations established in 1979 Category:Textile arts organizations Category:Nonprofit organizations based in the United States