Textiles 101, a new permanent interactive exhibit that opened Jan. 27 at the George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum, explores how fiber, color and structure influence how textiles are made and allows visitors to enter the mind of designers to discover the creative choices that influence textile design.

Visitors to this exhibit are encouraged to interact with and experience textiles for themselves. They can touch nine different fibers in raw and processed forms, practice various weaving techniques, examine completed fabrics, watch videos of artists at work, and digitally design a new textile themselves. The exhibit space also serves as a hub for tours, workshops and other activities.

 “Through this new permanent display, we introduce visitors to the basics of appreciating the textile arts,” said museum director John Wetenhall. “Interactive displays and videos walk visitors through the fundamentals of fiber, color and structure.” The videos were made by students and recent graduates of GW’s Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, and include documentaries about common fibers shot on location at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, a cotton farm in North Carolina and silk factories in India.