The Fabric Workshop and Museum

The Fabric Workshop and Museum is a non-profit arts organization in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, devoted to creating new work in new materials and new media through collaboration with emerging, nationally, and internationally recognized artists. Founded in 1977 by Marion Boulton Stroud, it operates an Artist-in-Residence Program, maintains an extensive permanent collection, presents in-house and touring exhibitions, and offers comprehensive educational programming. The institution has changed location three times due to the expansion of the neighboring Philadelphia Convention Center, and its current address is 1214 Arch Street.

Marion Boulton Stroud established the Fabric Workshop and Museum in 1977 with the goal of creating a non-profit workshop that combined teamwork and innovation. The original Artists in Residency program provided space, tools, and assistance for artists to make functional objects through screen printing on fabric. Over time, the organization recognized that artists' ideas, particularly installation-based concepts, were being constrained by the requirement that work be functional. The Workshop gradually relaxed this principle, eventually allowing non-functional work and expanding the definition of "fabric" to encompass materials as diverse as wire mesh, horse hair, and fiberglass. In 1996, the growing collection of documentation and work created by artists in residence had become historically significant enough to warrant public display and professional care. The institution then became "The Fabric Workshop and Museum," and its permanent collection now numbers over 5,500 objects created by more than 400 artists. The organization has also exhibited work outside its own space, with presentations at Eastern State Penitentiary and in New York, Venice, London, Dakar, and Los Angeles.

The permanent collection contains work by a wide range of contemporary artists and includes not only completed works but also preliminary sketches and other objects documenting artists' progress throughout their residencies. The collection encompasses work by artists working across multiple disciplines, including conceptual painters, sculptors, architects, and designers, as well as installation art, performance, and video. The institution also maintains an additional gallery space that exhibits work by the most recent artist in residence and, on occasion, work by artists outside the residency program that aligns with the organization's commitment to new, fresh contemporary work.

The permanent collection includes work by artists such as Louise Bourgeois, Sonya Clark, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Ann Hamilton, Reverend Howard Finster, Anish Kapoor, Robert Kushner, Glenn Ligon, Robert Morris, Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, and Carrie Mae Weems. Robert Kushner, born in 1949, was the first artist in residence in 1977 and later had a solo exhibition at the Fabric Workshop and Museum in 1996.

The Fabric Workshop and Museum has occupied three different locations in Philadelphia, all moves necessitated by the expansion of the neighboring Philadelphia Convention Center. Its current location is 1214 Arch Street. At a previous location, visitors could observe the facilities where artists worked; this tradition does not continue at the present site, though special tours may be scheduled.

The Fabric Workshop and Museum is located at 1214 Arch Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is a non-profit organization accessible to the public through its exhibitions and educational programs. Study tours are available for a fee of $5.00 per person, providing admittance to the museum and a behind-the-scenes look at the workshop. The institution serves as an active site for art education across age levels, from kindergarten through post-graduate study, and offers programs including the apprentice training program, study tours, an onsite studio program for grade school classes, an online curriculum designed for K-12 use, and evenings for educators.