Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles is a museum with beautiful displays that will make you want to take time out of your day just to wander around. It’s not a huge place, but the displays are so detailed and intricate it’s worth going for an hour or two. You can see some really old pieces like woven lace from the 1700s as well as more modern items like knitted afghans, which give you a sense of how technology has changed what we wear while still retaining traditional patterns.
Lacis is a legacy museum honoring textile artist and entrepreneur Kaethe Kliot. opened the Lacis Museum of Lace & Textiles in 2004. You will see Lacis’s personal collection as well as other items donated by celebrities like Nancy Reagan or Audrey Hepburn which illustrate how textiles were an important part of their lives.
Lacis is a great place for older kids and adults to get an introduction into the world of textiles, as Lacis offers regular programs just for them. There are also workshops on various textile techniques like weaving or knitting that you can sign up for if Lacis sounds like your kind of museum.
By visiting this museum you’ll be able to:
- Explore the world of textiles and learn about important people’s connection with fabric
- Take your friends who like textile art to a museum where they can have fun learning
- Support an organization that values the history of textile art
- Experience the history of textiles with Lacis
- Explore a variety of textile techniques in workshops
- See a range of textile workshops for adults and children
- Participate in regular programs for kids and adult visitors at Lacis
The Kliot laces and textiles represent 40 years of dedication to preserving the most exquisite human work. It includes thousands of specimens from pre-Columbian Peru, the finest from 17th-century European courts, and examples of the machine lacings exemplifying 19th-century industrialization. The Lacis Museum of Lace & Textiles houses an extensive library with a focus on lace and textiles. The costume collection includes over 10,000 items including books, patterns, articles, and other ephemera related to sewing machines
If you’re in Berkeley, Lacis is a great place for you to visit and learn more about textiles.
Berkeley, California is blessed with some of the Bay Area’s most fantastic museums. Here’s a list of our favorites:
- Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology
- Berkeley Natural History Museums
- Museum of Paleontology
- Essig Museum of Entomology Research
- Lawrence Hall of Science
- Aftel Archive of Curious Scents
- Museum of Children’s Arts
All of these museums are located just a short distance from our location in downtown Berkeley, at 1935 Addison Street, Suite A!
