Please join us for the 2024 Project Threadways Symposium, held April 19-20, 2024, in Florence, Alabama and virtually. This year, our theme is The Future, as we imagine a better way for textile manufacturing. Presenters will consider the balance between art and business, connect heritage and healing, preserve craft and community, and look to the past to chart a more sustainable future.

Details

The annual Project Threadways Symposium brings together scholars, activists, makers, and thinkers to present research, share stories, and encourage dialogue about history, community, and power—all through the lens of fashion and textiles. Presentations, dinners, exhibitions, and workshops create a multi-day experience in Florence, Alabama, centered on material culture and making.

We will gather at The Factory and virtually to imagine a better way for textile manufacturing. Presenters will consider the balance between art and. business, connect heritage and healing, preserve craft and community, and look to the past to chart a more sustainable future.

Speakers include:

• Anita Flanagan, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
• Carla Fernández, fashion designer
• Cassidy Zachary and April Calahan, Dressed: The History of Fashion podcast
• Kim Kelly and Joeann Pettway West, Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy
• Rebecca Burgess, Fibershed
• Sherhonda Allen, Project Threadways oral historian

Natalie Chanin of Project Threadways will also hold a Zero Waste workshop for in-person attendees.

Purchase Tickets Here

About Project Threadways

Project Threadways is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that records, studies, and interprets history, community, and power through the lens of fashion and textiles. From raw material to finished goods, we seek to understand the impact of textiles on our community, nation, and world. In partnership with Alabama Chanin and The School of Making, we connect people, places, and materials through design, making, and education—with cultural heritage, craft preservation, and creative placemaking at the core of our work.

This is an exciting time for Project Threadways. In October 2023, founder Natalie Chanin announced that Project Threadways, Alabama Chanin, and The School of Making were coming together as a single not-for-profit entity. Read more about the transition from the Business of Fashion.

Donations fund all of Project Threadways’ work, including operating expenses, strategic planning, oral histories and scholarship, symposia, and special projects in the arts and humanities. Support this important work here.

Symposium Partnership Details

The Project Threadways Symposium is held in partnership with the Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area and the Alabama Humanities Alliance. Proceeds for all ticket sales benefit 501(c)(3) certified Project Threadways. This program is supported by funding provided by the Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily reflect those of the Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area.

Contact Olivia Terenzio at think@projectthreadways.org for more information.

Location

The Factory is located in Florence, Alabama—a vibrant, creative town in the northwest corner of Alabama known as The Shoals. We are a day trip away from Birmingham, Nashville, Memphis, Chattanooga, and Atlanta.