Education
Create an experience at FWM
Activities and Programs
Visitors explore the Process Lab in "Jayson Musson: His History of Art," on view in 2022. Jayson Musson, in collaboration with The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia. Photo: Carlos Avendaño.
Tour our exhibitions
FWM Museum Tour Manager will guide you through our current exhibitions, sharing stories about the collaboration process, materials and techniques, the artist’s practice, and the themes present in the artist’s work. Check out our current tour offerings below.
FWM Artist-in-Residence Jayson Musson views works in progress for "His History of Art," 2022. Jayson Musson, in collaboration with The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia. Photo credit: Carlos Avendaño.
Visit our studios
Get a behind-the-scenes look at FWM. Hear from our Apprentices about the process of creating a 3-color repeat pattern, visit our print production and swatch archive, and learn how we expose screens and mix pigments! Get a sneak peek at the work in progress for upcoming exhibitions and chat with our studio staff about the process of collaborating with our Artists-in-Residence to create a new body of work.
FWM College/Post-grad Apprentices get a behind-the-scenes tour of the FWM archives. Photo credit: Carlos Avendaño.
View artist boxes in our archive
FWM has over 400 artist boxes in our archive, containing process materials, revealing the stories behind our collaborations with artists over the past 45 years! See the sketches, material tests, notes, and process photographs from your favorite artists’ projects. Request up to five artist boxes to view and receive an insider’s look at the process of storing and archiving artworks.
Visitors participate in a lively screenprinting workshop in the FWM Print Studio. Photo credit: Carlos Avendaño.
Participate in a hands-on screenprinting workshop
Learn elements of the screenprinting process, reflect on themes within our current exhibitions, and leave with your own unique artwork! Check out our current workshop offerings below.
Making a Reservation
For more information or to schedule a tour, please complete and submit our Tour and Workshop Inquiry Form. Advance registration required; booking at least two weeks in advance is appreciated. Tours and workshops can be scheduled for Tuesday through Friday between 10:00 am–6:00 pm for a minimum of 4 participants.
Before your visit, we encourage groups to learn about the history of The Fabric Workshop and Museum, our Artists-in-Residence Program, and current exhibitions on view. Engage your group in a conversation about contemporary art museums and museum etiquette. If your group is running late, please contact us as soon as possible. If your group is not present within the first 15 minutes of your scheduled time and we have not received notice, or if arrival is delayed by more than 30 minutes, tours will be cancelled without a refund. Please check our current COVID guidelines prior to your visit.
General Public Rate
Exhibition Tour: $10 per person
Exhibition Tour + Behind-the Scenes Studios Visit: $15 per person
Exhibition Tour + Hands-on Workshop: $20 per person
Print Studio Tour + Hands-on Workshop: $20 per person
Archive/Collections Tour: $15 per person
Collector’s Tour: $20 per person
Education Rate
Exhibition Tour: $5 per person
Exhibition Tour + Behind-the-Scenes Studios Visit: $10 per person
Exhibition Tour + Hands-on Workshop: $15 per person
Print Studio Tour + Hands-on Workshop: $15 per person
Archive/Collections Tour: $10 per person
Member Rate*
Exhibition Tour: $5 per member
Exhibition Tour + Behind-the-Scenes Studios Visit: $10 per member
Exhibition Tour + Hands-on Workshop: $15 per member
Print Studio Tour + Hands-on Workshop: $10 per member
Archive/Collections Tour: $10 per member
*Rate applies to each FWM member. General public rates apply to the rest of the group.
Rate for Persons/Groups ages 65+
Exhibition Tour + your choice of a Behind-the-Scenes Studio Visit or Archive Tour: $5 per person
Hands-on Screenprinting Workshop: $10 per person
Title 1 Rate/ Social Service Organization
Up to 30 Exhibition Tour + Hands-on Workshop: $5 per student
If you would like to schedule a tour or workshop but feel a visit would be prohibitive for your group, please contact kparry@fabricworkshopandmuseum.org
Current Tour Offerings
Project assistants Zack Ingram and Hannah Moog assemble fish scales made of painted mylar over a mesh fabric. In The Rose Garden, tashort film was housed in the gutted belly of a large-scale red snapper sculpture adorned with these scales. John Jarboe, in collaboration with FWM. The Rose Garden, 2024. Photo credit: Carlos Avendaño.
Behind-the-Scenes Studio Tour
Want a chance to see artists at work in our studios? There is always a wide range of creative activity happening daily at FWM. Visitors will get a sneak peek at the work our Studio team is creating for upcoming exhibitions and the repeat patterns our Apprentices our printing on our 19-yard print tables! See how we mix pigments in our pigment room, expose screens in our exposure room, and peruse our fabric archive which contains swatches from the yardage printed at FWM since 1977!
Our archive of artist boxes feature materials and notes related to the many projects that take place at FWM. Lenore Tawney, in collaboration with The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia. Photo credit: Carlos Avendaño.
Archive Tour
These special tours allow visitors a rare glimpse into our collection of over 400 artist boxes. These boxes contain process materials from an artist’s residency at FWM. The boxes reveal how art was made at this moment in history and capture a specific moment of an artist’s career. Through material tests, sketches, notes, models, and samples, the artist boxes tell the story of the challenges and discoveries that arise from these compelling collaborations.
Visitors can request to view up to five artist boxes from our collection. Selections can be made by perusing our Artist-in-Residence page. If you don’t have particular artists in mind, you can request a selection of boxes that address a theme or process curated by FWM staff. Requests must be made two weeks in advance.
"Storm at Split Rock," 2020. Digital print silk, taffeta nylon, eco down, thermochromic pigment, silkscreen ink, 50 x 70″ ; Edition size: 18 w 2 APs. Samara Golden in collaboration with The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia. Photo credit: Carlos Avendaño.
Collector's Tour
Over the years, Artists-in-Residence have collaborated with FWM to create special editions in a range of media, creating a trove of objects and wearables for art lovers and collectors. Explore artist boxes that showcase the process of designing and producing artist editions, highlighting the work of artists such as Louise Bourgeois, Jiha Moon, Samara Golden, Jonathan Lyndon Chase, Edgar Heap of Birds, and Kiki Smith. All participants receive a 10% discount in the Museum Shop!
Virtual Learning
FWM offers amazing virtual tours and workshops as well! Please contact kparry@fabricworkshopandmuseum.org to hear about our virtual offerings.
Hands-On Workshops
*Workshops are offered virtually for any size group or onsite for groups of 4 participants or more. In the interest of maintaining the safety of our visitors and staff, we are temporarily adjusting our maximum youth tour capacity to 12 youth with two adult chaperones.
These immersive workshops engage the minds and bodies of artists at all levels. Participants begin with an interactive tour of the exhibition, followed by a hands-on workshop in the studio designed to connect to the process, materials, or concepts expressed in the artist’s work. FWM is proud to print exclusively on biodegradable, recycled, or 100% organic cotton materials.
Inspired by Decades of Pattern
Pattern samples prepared by Museum Tour Educator Katie Parry. Photo credit: Carlos Avendaño.
Pattern Intensive
Explore pattern creation using the screenprinting process in this special 3-hour workshop. Begin with a tour of our swatch archive followed by a deep dive into color layering and registration techniques using multiple 10 x 10 inch designs. Participants will leave with several pattern and color studies and a half-yard of printed fabric.
Offered Monday-Friday, 10:00 am–6:00 pm
$60 per person (minimum of 4 people, maximum of 6 people)
Must register two weeks in advance.
Inspired by Soft/Cover
Sample prepared by Katie Parry, Museum Tour Manager. Photo credit: Carlos Avendaño.
Under the Big Top
What wonderful creature do you feel is underappreciated? Maria Fernanda Cardoso, an artist devoted to the deep study of nature, invites viewers to delight in the real and overlooked qualities of fleas in the sculptural performance piece, Cardoso Flea Circus, 1996. She trained live fleas using their natural responses to heat, light, and breath to create a dazzling spectacle of tricks, stunts, and acrobatics. What unsung hero of nature would you make the star of the show? Use the process of screenprinting to create a paper-cut creature to star in your own big top performance!
Sample prepared by Katie Parry, Museum Tour Manager. Photo credit: Carlos Avendaño.
Fashion and Function at FWM
In the early days of FWM, contemporary painters, sculptors, and conceptual artists were asked to experiment with screenprinting on fabric for the first time. Many of these artists, whose works pushed the boundaries of wearable and functional art, started their process with designing and printing a repeat pattern. In this workshop, think outside the box to print your own pattern on paper that you can cut, fold, and collage into your own wearable or functional artwork such as a sun visor, wallet, or mini umbrella!
Sample prepared by Katie Parry, Museum Tour Manager. Photo credit. Carlos Avendaño.
You Are
Inspired by the self-portraits of artists Isaiah Zagar and John Killacky, use a variety of mono printing techniques to explore how to represent qualities of your ever-changing and all-feeling self through mark, color, shape, and pattern.