Artists gather outside the San Diego Civic Center to demand for arts funding to be restored. Read the article in the San Diego Union Tribune here.

CELEBRATE EARTH DAY BY GIVING YOUR WARDROBE A 2ND LIFE!

Mend It, Lend It, Love It on Earth Day with MartyO & San Diego Silk Guild - Wednesday, April 22, 2026

VMOTA is excited to join MartyO and the San Diego Silk Guild bringing new life to your clothes that need mending or show you how to mend them yourself!

Participate in our clothing swap by bringing 1-3 clean, gently worn clothes ready for a new home! The more you bring, the more you can swap.

This Earth Day event is FREE and open to the public.

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, May 1, 2026

Time: 5 - 8 PM

SLOW DOWN, STITCH, AND SHARE A SACRED SPACE

Sacred Thresholds: Weaving Ritual Spaces with Bibiana Badia - Saturday, May 2, 2026 - SOLD OUT

This workshop is sold out, but you can still support Bibiana Badia by visiting her exhibit in the Spotlight Gallery, on display until May 9th!

MAY FOCUS FIBER - MEMBERS ONLY

The Mola: Fabric Art of the Kuna People of Panama - Monday, May 4, 2026

Next Focus Fiber: VMOTA member Susan Hamilton shares the photos and a selection of molas that her and her husband Tom Hayward collected during their five years that they spent aboard their boat in Panama, much of the time in the San Blas Islands. During that time, they visited many of the Kuna villages and bought molas from the residents.

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.

In "Patchwork: An Afternoon of Textile Art”, participants will explore their textile creativity across four workshops taught by local artists. With each workshop touching upon a different facet of the expansive discipline of textile art, seasoned and blossoming textile artists alike will each get the chance to learn new skills and build community. Admission into the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego is included with purchase.

Participants will: 

• Be exposed to four forms of textile art: mixed-media collage, soft sculpture, visible mending, and kumihimo braiding 
• Witness how textile art is intertwined with mindfulness, craftsmanship & community 
• Learn from textile experts 
• Experience guided, technical artistic expression that can start their textile journey or enhance a pre-existing practice

Featured Artists: Mônica Lóss, Esther Gamez, Adriana Fuentes, and Sarah Lewis

Date: May 17th, 2026

Time: 11:45 AM to 5:00 PM

Location: MCASD, La Jolla

This event is funded in part by the Prebys Foundation Shared Spaces Initiative.

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.

San Diego Textile Scene

Feb 14, 2026 to Jun 20, 2026

This exhibition celebrates the creativity and innovation of San Diego’s textile artists while honoring the deep textile traditions of the region, which trace back to the indigenous Kumeyaay people. Featured in this exhibition are two wearable pieces from Kumeyaay artisans Anselmo Dominguez and Norma Meza.



The contemporary artists featured in this exhibition were selected from VMOTA’s 2026 art call: Jean Benelli, Monica Loss, Rebecca Smith, Nancy Lemke, Sue Britt, and Angela D’Amico. Through a diverse range of techniques and approaches, their work reflects both individual artistic voices and the ongoing evolution of textile art in San Diego—bridging past and present, tradition and innovation.

CYANOTYPE

Feb 14, 2026 to Jun 20, 2026

The cyanotype—derived from the Ancient Greek kyáneos (dark blue) and týpos (mark or impression)—is a photographic process known for its distinctive blue imagery. Today, the cyanotype process has been reimagined within contemporary textile art as a site of experimentation and innovation. In this exhibition, four artists present distinct approaches to the technique, exploring its historical roots while expanding its expressive and material possibilities for a contemporary audience.

I Find Little Treasures

by Vanessa Freitag

Feb 14, 2026 to Jun 20, 2026

This exhibition brings together medium-format textile objects and sculptures that investigate the construction of fragmented landscapes—spaces that are sewn, woven, and crocheted into a sense of belonging. The work emerges from a practice rooted in wandering through sites of memory: bazaars, antique shops, and public markets in the city the artist inhabits. These places become starting points for an intuitive process of discovery and collection.

Porcelain, tableware, ornaments, and handcrafted objects—once part of homes unknown to me—are gathered and carefully incorporated into the textile forms. Treated as small treasures, these objects are nestled among the soft branches of the sculptures, inviting an attentive gaze to slowly uncover them.

SPOTLIGHT GALLERY

Unsettled Artifcats by Jill Marie Holslin

May 12, 2026 to June 20, 2026

Jill uses the techniques of weaving–of photos and documents—to unsettle the certainties that legal documents and photographs present. This moment of deep conflict in the US inspired Jill to return to the archive, to use the past to produce a more nuanced history of the present. Through her work, she invites visitors to think about how land and belonging are subject to those who make meaning, and with what materials and ruptures new stories can be told.

MEMBERS CHALLENGE

4 Elements by VMOTA Membership Community

June 16 to June 20, 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?

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

Support Visions Museum of Textile Art by Becoming a Member

VMOTA membership, with its updated tiers and benefits, is designed to create deeper connections with textile art and our creative community. Members enjoy 10% discounts on store purchases and workshops, invitations to exhibition openings, and special experiences like private docent tours and North American Reciprocal Museum (NARM) access at select levels.

But beyond these benefits, our membership offers meaningful ways to connect with VMOTA and textile art. All members are welcome to join our philanthropy group, Visions Giving Circle (an additional $500/year), or the Focus Fiber Group, an open and collaborative space that fosters growth and connection among artists working in fiber and textile arts. Artist-members can share their website on VMOTA’s artist directory and receive discounted call-for-entry fees, and members exploring exhibition opportunities, whether hobbyists or practicing artists, can participate in member challenges.

Together, membership brings artists, learners, community members, and supporters together through textile art to tell our collective stories.

Not a member yet? Join us today and be part of the VMOTA community.

Photo Credits:

Image 1: Photo courtesy of VMOTA

Image 2: Photo courtesy of MartyO

Image 3: Photo courtesy of VMOTA

Image 4: Photo courtesy of Bibiana Badia

Image 5: Photo courtesy of Susan Hamilton

Image 6: Photo courtesy of VMOTA

Image 7: It Comes In Waves by Rebecca Smith

Image 8: Head Full of Dreams by Morgan Ford Willingham

Image 9: I find little treasures I by Vanessa Freitag

Image 11: Canapa/Chokecherry by Jill Marie Holslin

Image 12: Photo courtesy of VMOTA