Thursday, October 16 at the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel
Cocktails at 6:30 pm
Dinner begins at 7:30 pm
The Textile Museum will host its third Tribute Dinner fundraising gala on Thursday, October 16 from 6:30 to 10:00 pm at the historic Renaissance Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. The Textile Museum will honor preeminent scholar Jon Thompson with the George Hewitt Myers Award, given in recognition of his lifetime achievement and exceptional contributions to the study and understanding of the textile arts. Also included in the evening program is the presentation of the Museum’s inaugural Awards of Distinction to longtime supporters Harold M. Keshishian, Alice Dodge Wallace and Edwin M. Zimmerman for their distinguished service in fulfillment of the Museum’s mission. The Tribute Dinner is part of the Museum’s “Tribute to Textiles Weekend” (October 15-19, 2008), a full program of interrelated events celebrating the textile arts.
To purchase tickets for the 2008 Tribute Dinner, call (202) 667-0441, click here to download a Tribute Dinner reply form, or visit the TM Shop to buy individual tickets online.
Buy tickets to the 2008 Tribute Dinner online.
Jon Thompson is a noted scholar in the field of textile arts. From 2001 to 2007, Thompson held the position of May Beattie Fellow in Carpet Studies at the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology and the Khalili Research Centre, at the University of Oxford. In this capacity, he directed the Beattie Carpet Archive, working toward the establishment of a database of images and notes on carpets made by May Hamilton Beattie (1908-1996) in order to make her research available to scholars. His work also involved teaching courses on carpets and textiles of the Islamic world at Oxford University and at the British Museum. Though now retired from Oxford, Thompson continues to teach in London at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and at the Victoria & Albert Museum.
This year Thompson is guest curator of an exhibition celebrating the 75th anniversary of the New York-based Hajji Baba Club, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious rug and textile collecting group. The exhibition is on view at the New York Historical Society through August 17, 2008 and will open as Timbuktu to Tibet: Rugs and Textiles of the Hajji Babas at The Textile Museum on October 18, 2008. The exhibition is accompanied by a beautifully illustrated catalogue, Timbuktu to Tibet: Exotic Rugs and Textiles from New York Collectors, also written by Thompson.
About the George Hewitt Myers Award
Established in 2005, named for The Textile Museum’s founder and presented by the Museum’s Board of Trustees, this award for lifetime achievement recognizes an individual’s exceptional contributions to the study and understanding of the textile arts. Previous recipients include philanthropist and collector Lloyd E. Cotsen (2007), ethnographer, photographer and expert on Turkish nomadic weaving traditions Josephine Powell (2006), and textile designer, author and collector Jack Lenor Larsen (2005).
2008 marks the first Awards of Distinction to be presented by the Museum's Board of Trustees for distinguished service in fulfillment of The Textile Museum's mission. The inaugural honorees are former Trustees Harold M. Keshishian, Alice Dodge Wallace and Edwin M. Zimmerman, who will receive their awards during the Tribute Dinner on October 16 at the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel.
The largest luxury hotel in Washington D.C., the Mayflower, an acclaimed Renaissance Washington D.C. hotel, is a proud member of Historic Hotels of America. Situated in the heart of the business district, just four blocks from the White House, this historic hotel offers a timeless aura that makes it the “second best address in the nation’s capital.” For more information, visit www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/wassh-renaissance-mayflowerhotel.