The permanent collection of the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles is comprised of over 550 textiles, including historic and contemporary quilts, contemporary woven textile art forms and wearable art in its permanent collection. Begun in the 1970s with primarily late 19th century and early 20th century pieces from the collections of members of the founding organization, the Museum’s collection has grown and diversified immeasurably.

Recent substantial additions to the collection include the Porcella Collection of ethnic textiles and garments, and the Lucy Hilty Quilt Collection. A research library of approximately 500 volumes on the history, making, and exhibition of quilts and textiles supports the collection.

A key objective is for the collection to recognize and reflect the central role played by Bay Area artists in the quilting and textile arts revival in the second half of the 20th century. The collection currently contains representative pieces of many renowned local and national artists, and the Museum plans to continue to develop its holdings in contemporary art forms.

At the same time, central to its mission to promote the art, craft and history of quilts and textiles, the Museum plans to continue to grow its holdings of historical quilts and ethnic textiles. San Jose and the greater Bay Area include people from a majority of the world’s cultures, and each of these cultures sustains textile-based traditions. The Museum sees as its mandate the documentation and preservation of world textile traditions as well as current trends in the textile arts.

Since moving to its permanent home at 520 South First Street, the Museum has undertaken a concerted campaign to install a new archival compact storage system, to digitally document the collection, and to prepare the collection for growth. The Museum invites you to become involved in these efforts, and looks forward to assisting the community in its understanding and appreciation of all textile-based art forms. For information on how you can get involved, contact: collection@sjquiltmuseum.org

The Museum welcomes the donation of important textiles to its collection. Please see Donating to the Collection for details.