Textile Museum to Open Branch in Penn Quarter
Written by DCist Contributor Amy Cavenaugh
The Textile Museum, which announced this summer plans to open a second branch sometime in 2008, has settled on a location, as Penn Quarter Living noted yesterday.
The museum, currently located at 2320 S St., NW, plans to open the outpost at 421 7th St., NW, close to the Mall and many of the other District’s museums. The new branch plans to focus on contemporary textile pieces, and will also give the museum an opportunity to invite more traveling exhibits.
“We picked the location for the mall proximity, and also because there are a number of interesting galleries in Penn Quarter,” said Annie Sanchez, communications assistant at the museum. “It's an expanding and revitalized area." At 23,400 square feet, it will almost double the museum's space, making it possible for the museum to hold special exhibits and display more works from the collection.
“We hope to make alliances with other museums and tie in with their shows,” Sanchez said. “The original site will be more focused on the permanent collection. We have over 18,000 pieces, so we have plenty of works to rotate through and give more visibility.”
Photo courtesy Penn Quarter Living.
The Penn Quarter neighborhood is notoriously devoid of grocery stores, leading commenters at Penn Quarter Living to raise the question about the utility of a ceding that much potential retail space to a second Textile Museum branch in an area where residents must rely on delivery groceries, weekly farmer's markets, or trek far out of the area to buy food.
The museum plans to hammer out details such as the projected opening date and the inaugural exhibit during a board meeting on Thursday.