TEXTILE SOCIETY OF AMERICA
ANNOUNCES NEW AWARDS
TO HONOR FOUNDING PRESIDENTS

The TSA has established the Founding Presidents’ Awards as an initiative to recognize excellence in the field of textile studies and to ensure that the finest new work will be represented at the organization’s biennial symposium. The awards are named in honor of the five founding presidents - Peggy Gilfoy (deceased), Miton Sonday, Lotus Stack, Mattiebelle Gittinger and Louise W. Mackie.

Founded in 1988, the TSA established the symposium as the organization's core event to reflect their mission to “provide an international forum for the exchange and dissemination of information about textiles worldwide, from artistic, cultural, economic, historic, political, social and technical perspectives.”

The Founding Presidents’ Awards are designed to recognize superior scholarship by providing significant financial support to one or more presenters for the symposium. All proposals for the presentation of papers are eligible for the award and will be reviewed and ranked by the symposium co-chairs. Finalists will be recommended for consideration by the Awards Committee, which shall be composed of the two symposium co-chairs, the current president, past president and vice-president.

The 11th Biennial Symposium of the Textile Society of America “Textiles as Cultural Expressions” is scheduled to be held in Honolulu, Hawaii from September 24 – 27, 2008. The deadline for receipt of proposals for symposium papers has passed.