Ann Chaves and architectural historian Robert Winter pose with dress display in The Art and Craft of Textile Design exhibition.

Ann Chaves, curator of The Art and Craft of Textile Design, presents an illustrated lecture on clothing of the Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau, and Art Deco periods using many examples from her own personal collection. 

Chaves owns Inglenook Textiles Needlework Studio in Pasadena. She designs and creates unique textiles which abide by the principles of Arts and Crafts design. Her work emphasizes fluid originality rather than mere reproduction of the Arts and Crafts movement.  Her interest in hand crafted textiles was sparked at a young age by her Scottish grandmother who taught her to knit and sew. Chaves studied art education, design and textiles at Cazenovia College and Buffalo State College.

Textiles were an important element of the greater Arts and Crafts movement; the unique craftsmanship and artistry in the pieces on display illustrate how this new and vibrant art and fashion style was created and evolved in the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

"One of the main reasons I am so attracted to this particular period of textile design is the sophistication and the thought process that went into their creation," says Chaves.   The Arts and Crafts textile movement came about after the decline in textile quality and aesthetic that occurred during the Victorian period. This decline was due to the invention of the sewing machine and the use of aniline dyes. The Arts and Crafts Era issued in more refined styles of textile design and an emphasis on handmade textiles. Educational facilities were established specializing in artistic needlework, including the Royal School of Needlework in London and the Needlework Department at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland.

Tickets for the event are $20.00 and $15.00 for Museum, Textile Arts Council, and TGLA Members. The Lecture will be held on Sunday, October 26 at 4:00 p.m. The Pasadena Museum of History is located at 470 West Walnut Street, Pasadena. For tickets and more information call  (626) 577-1660  ext. 10 or log onto www.pasadenahistory.org.