March 18, 2021. 4PM CT.

Bisa Butler, an interdisciplinary textile artist whose works showcase personal and historical narratives of African-Americans, gave the Ruth Ketterer Harris Lecture virtually Thursday, March 18. The acclaimed artist, who currently has her first solo museum exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago, introduced her work and conversed with Gianofer Fields, the Producer-in-Residence at the UW Center for Design and Material Culture.

Special thanks to the Art Institute of Chicago for allowing us to screen their video (also found here) of Butler's exhibition with AIC in collaboration with the Katonah Museum of Art, Bisa Butler: Portraits.

Since 1992, the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection has proudly sponsored an annual lecture series in honor of Ruth Ketterer Harris, the collection’s first curator. The lecture series has featured a diverse range of specialists with broad public appeal including textile historians, contemporary artists, museum curators, scholars, and collectors―all of whom have contributed to an enhanced understanding and appreciation of textiles. The Harris Lecture is free and open to the public.

© 2021 by the Center for Design and Material Culture and speakers.