Emerging and experienced artists sat shoulder to shoulder at our Patchwork Salon, learning 4 new textile techniques from artists while connecting with one another.

At VMOTA, our purpose includes fostering connection, dialogue, and inspiration to empower individuals to appreciate, engage with, and contribute to the rich legacy and evolving practice of textile art, building a community that values diversity, creativity, and shared experiences. On Sunday, we felt that connection as nearly 50 students created alongside each other at our Patchwork Salon. We hope that you find yourself in community this week, wherever that might be, to continue building bridges of hope and resilience through shared experiences.

Katrina Bruins

Executive Director

WEAVING TOGETHER AND TELLING FAMILY STORIES

Lecture: Jill Marie Holslin: Unsettling the Archive: Reweaving the Stories We Inherit - Saturday, May 23, 2026

Artist Jill Marie Holslin will discuss Unsettled Artifacts, a project that weaves together family photographs, land deeds, and plat maps from her grandfather’s archive with her own photographs of native plants from Dakota and Ojibwe lands in Minnesota. Using fine art photographic paper, transparent film, and mylar, Holslin cuts and weaves the images to create layered compositions where past and present intersect. At a moment when climate change and renewed appeals to a mythic “American greatness” shape public debate, Holslin invites audiences to reconsider the stories we inherit about land, history, and belonging—and to imagine other ways of listening to the land and the histories it holds.

This event is FREE and open to the public.

Time: 11 AM - 12 PM

JUNE FOCUS FIBER - MEMBERS ONLY

The Secret Life of Dresses - Monday, June 1, 2026

Next Focus Fiber: Every dress tells a tale. Storyteller Marilyn McPhie will share curious and captivating stories of historic fashions: poisoned gowns, treasured wedding dresses, flour-sack frocks, legendary garments, and the people who wore them.  

What is Focus Fiber? Focus Fiber is an open and collaborative space within VMOTA that fosters growth and connection among artists working in fiber and textile arts. The group meets regularly to share projects, exchange constructive feedback, and support artistic development in a welcoming and respectful environment. Open to all VMOTA members engaged in fiber and textile work, Focus Fiber offers a platform for artists to build confidence in sharing their creative expressions.

Focus Fiber meetings are on the first Monday of the month.

Did you know that the Arts District Liberty Station stays open late on the First Friday of every month?

We are excited to share VMOTA’s history by highlighting artwork from our permanent collection during our monthly First Fridays events. The importance of permanent art collections in museums lies in their role as a vital resource for understanding history, art, and culture. These collections serve as a reflection of the institution’s values and aspirations, allowing visitors to explore the styles and beliefs of the community. They are used for educational purposes, fostering connections between past and present, and providing insights into the evolution of art and culture over time. Additionally, permanent collections contribute to the museum’s mission by offering a rich array of artworks that tell stories from various cultures and eras, enriching the visitor’s experience and promoting learning and creativity.

Date: Friday, June 5, 2026

Time: 5 - 7:30 PM

REQUEST FOR DONATIONS

Annual Veranda Sale Donation Dates - June 6 & 8; July 11 & 13

Save the dates and shop the sale:

Member & Guild Preview - July 31st from 2 to 6 PM



Public Sale - August 1st from 9:30 AM to 4 PM

Donate fabrics, kits, textile tools, and embellishments to our annual Veranda Sale! Did you know that the Veranda Sale is VMOTA's biggest fundraiser of the year? Thanks to generous donations, we are able to bring low-cost fabrics, notions, and tools for you to buy - while also making critical funds to support the museum's operations.

Items we can use

• Textiles of all kinds – at least 1/4 yard
• Quilt tops, blocks, and kits
• Jewelry, embellishments, beads, buttons
• Thread, lace, and trim
• Working sewing machines, sewing tools
• Weaving supplies
• Good quality yarn

Donation Drop off Dates: June 6, June 8, July 11 & July 13 from 10 am to 2 pm

Donation Drop-Off Location:

2825 Dewey Road #100,

San Diego, CA 92106

WHERE SCIENCE MEETS PLAY AND ART MEETS PRECISION

Science and Art Collide: Cyanotype Printing Workshop - Saturday, June 20, 2026

Local cyanotype artist Annalise Neil will guide participants in this exciting introductory workshop. Cyanotype is the process of treating a surface, usually paper or fabric, with light-sensitive chemicals to make an image, often using natural sunlight. Students will be introduced to the history of cyanotype, the process of creating light-sensitivity on a medium, different printing methods using objects and tea toning, and building compositions to be printed using sunlight. Annalise will also provide resources to continue your cyanotype journey beyond the workshop!

Date: Saturday, June 20, 2026

Time: 11 AM - 12:30 PM

or 1 PM - 2:30 PM

VMOTA is pleased to share that our 2026 Exhibition Calendar is included in Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026, a nationwide semiquincentennial initiative to showcase the importance of the handmade both throughout our history and in contemporary life. Learn about all participating organizations through the link below.

Exhibitions Closing June 20th - See Them Before They're Gone!

CAMILLE & VANESSA GALLERY

San Diego Textile Scene

Feb 14, 2026 to Jun 20, 2026

GALLERY 2 (NAMING AVAILABLE)*

CYANOTYPE

Feb 14, 2026 to Jun 20, 2026

DR. SANDRA ANN EDWIN GALLERY

I Find Little Treasures

by Vanessa Freitag

Feb 14, 2026 to Jun 20, 2026

SPOTLIGHT GALLERY

Unsettled Artifcats by Jill Marie Holslin

May 12, 2026 to June 20, 2026

*Interested in sponsoring a gallery? Email info@vmota.org to discuss our gallery naming opportunities.

Two of our Cyanotype artists were featured in a podcast called Why Make? You can listen to it with a few visuals on our Youtube Channel.

Exhibitions Opening June 27th

CAMILLE & VANESSA GALLERY

17th Quilt Nihon Japan

Jun 27, 2026 to Oct 10, 2026

VMOTA is honored to be one of only four venues in the US to host Quilt Nihon, and this is the first time this biennial has made its way to San Diego, CA.

This exhibit features award-winning innovative works from the biennial competition of the Japanese Handicraft Instructor's Association (JHIA). JHIA sponsors the largest international quilt contest in Japan and one of the most prestigious in the world.

This is an extraordinary opportunity to view this international exhibition before it heads back to Japan.

DR. SANDRA ANN EDWIN GALLERY

Soft Architectures of the Sea

by Marita Setas Ferro

Jun 27, 2026 to Oct 10, 2026

This exhibition presents Marita Setas Ferro’s textile sculptures as material reflections on marine ecosystems, care, and environmental precarity. Through crochet and knitting, techniques rooted in heritage and slowness, marine forms emerge as soft architectures shaped by repetition, labor, and attention. The works engage sustainability as an embedded practice, using recycled and upcycled materials to foreground responsibility within the act of making itself. 

This exhibit provides a unique opportunity for tactile exploration and learning.

SPOTLIGHT GALLERY

Snapshots of Guatemala Highlands by Kathleen McCabe

June 27 to Aug 1, 2026

This exhibition features quilted works by an artist who holds a high appreciation for Guatemala and Maya culture. The colors and textures of the landscape and the abundance of textiles that the artist observed when exploring this region are interwoven throughout her works. The Maya culture is rich with history and traditions that have persevered through time in spite of hardship and civil wars. They pass on their weaving techniques and incorporate their local symbolism into future generations.

We invite you to explore these themes as you connect with her work.

MEMBERS CHALLENGE

4 Elements by VMOTA Membership Community

June 27 to Aug 1, 2026

The theme “4 Elements” refers to the ancient elements of earth, air, fire, and water. There was great curiosity about the natural world, which drove the study of these “elements,” their properties, and relationships to one another. Where will your curiosity lead you?

To submit a piece:

• Make sure your museum membership is up to date.
• The piece can be any textile format as long as it is 12"x12".
• Drop off your piece at the museum between June 16 and June 20.

Support the artists! Artwork is available for purchase through our retail store!

OFFSITE EXHIBITION

Stories in Cloth: Communicating Through Textiles

June 27 to Sept 6, 2026

Presented by the La Jolla Historical Society in partnership with VMOTA, this upcoming exhibition explores how textiles from around the world and throughout history have been used to communicate stories, identity, and shared experience. This will be a unique opportunity to see pieces from VMOTA's permanent collection.

The La Jolla Historical Society is open Wednesday through Sunday from 12 PM to 4 PM and is free of charge.

Gallery Location:

780 Prospect St.
La Jolla, CA 92037

Make Your Voice Heard

VMOTA has been showing up and speaking out at recent budget meetings of the county and city of San Diego.

We celebrate the county's decision to invest $2.75 million in new funds to support individual artists, binational, and black arts. These critical funds help to sustain individual artists whose work is often underfunded. You can read more about it here.

At the city level, however, we are rallying for restored funding after an $11.8 million budget cut - a total elimination of arts and culture grant funding - was proposed. These funds support art and cultural spaces around the city, allowing many institutions to provide free programming for our community. For VMOTA, this means a potential loss of $20,000 to cover rent and staffing costs in an already unstable economic climate.

We need your support.

• If you live in San Diego, please take a few moments to write the mayor and your councilmember. You can do so easily through this form. We are waiting for the rescheduled budget hearing to speak up one last time about our call for full arts funding restoration.
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• If you do not live in San Diego, you can support by sharing photos and statements online about why the arts matter to you and tag @visionsmuseum so we can share your support. These small efforts help remind our community that their work matters.

Photo Credits:

Image 1: Photo courtesy of VMOTA

Image 2: Canapa/Chokecherry by Jill Marie Holslin

Image 3: Cyclone by Shane Booth

Image 4: Golden by Peggy Brown

Image 5: Photo courtesy of VMOTA

Image 6: Head Full of Dreams by Morgan Ford Willingham

Image 7: Photo courtesy of VMOTA featuring Contemporary traditional dress by Norma Meza and a photo of Norma Meza by Jorge Sanchez

Image 8: Flight of the Phoenix by Keiko Tajitsu

Image 9: Pink Coral Reef by Marita Seta Ferro

Image 11: Sisters by Kathleen McCabe

Image 12: Photo courtesy of VMOTA

Image 13: Ten of Clubs by M. Joan Lintault