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
Risa Puno, in collaboration with The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia. "Group Hug," 2024. Photo credit: Carlos Avendaño.
Risa Puno: Group Hug
This exhibition takes the form of an interactive installation that explores the complex social relationships inherent in receiving and providing care. Taking its name from the answer to a New York Times crossword clue— “Many-person act of support or affection”—Group Hug uses the language of games to weave together themes of caregiving, cultural identity, and familial dynamics. The result of a two-year residency and created in collaboration with the FWM Studio, Risa Puno: Group Hug invites the public to engage in gameplay with unexpected incentives and outcomes.
Jessica Campbell, in collaboration with The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia. “Heterodoxy” (Installation View), 2023. Photo credit: Carlos Avendaño.
Jessica Campbell: Heterodoxy
Jessica Campbell’s exhibition and discussion series explores the hidden history behind the twentieth century secret feminist debate club named Heterodoxy. Produced in collaboration with the FWM Studio, Jessica Campbell: Heterodoxy takes the form of a gathering space and archive, outfitted in an immersive tufted rug environment.
FWM Director of Studio Operations Nami Yamamoto works on stuffed figures for "Mary Reid Kelley and Patrick Kelley: Blood Moon," 2021–2022. Mary Reid Kelley and Patrick Kelley, in collaboration with The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia. 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 Risa Puno: Group Hug
Game Plan sample prepared by Museum Tour Manager, Katie Parry. Photo credit: Carlos Avendaño.
Game Plan
Ever want to design your own game to play with friends and family? Learn how to screenprint a gameboard and then dream up your own strategies, rules, and game pieces.
Screenprinted Puzzle sample prepared by Museum Tour Manager, Katie Parry. Photo credit: Carlos Avendaño.
Screenprinted Puzzles
Create your own puzzle using monoprinting techniques on paper. Participants will use open screens and papercut stencils to design their own hand-cut puzzles to solve and enjoy.
Family Feast sample prepared by Museum Tour Manager, Katie Parry. Photo credit: Carlos Avendaño.
Group Hug / Group Feast
Make your own collaborative placemat celebrating your favorite foods. Using monoprinting techniques, commemorate beloved meals and learn more about the favorite foods of your friends, family, or colleagues. Each participant will print their own placemat using a design created through collaboration.
*Must register 2 weeks in advance to secure materials.
Inspired by Jessica Campbell: Heterodoxy
Conversational Patterns sample prepared by Museum Tour Manager Katie Parry. Photo credit: Carlos Avendaño.
Conversational Patterns
Members of Heterodoxy sparked conversations that grew and spread into movements. Explore the way single motifs can multiply and connect to create a pattern. This workshop is perfect for collaboration!
Think it Over Pass it On woodblock print samples prepared by Museum Tour Manager Katie Parry. Photo credit: Carlos Avendaño.
Think It Over + Pass It On
Suffragists initiated a postcard campaign in 1910 to spread the message of their cause and recruit new members. Think about what message you would like to pass along and use wood block printing techniques to create your own postcard campaign!
Portrait Prints sample prepared by Museum Tour Manager Katie Parry. Photo credit: Carlos Avendaño.
Portrait Prints
In Jessica Campbell’s exhibition, visitors can discover hidden portraits of the Heterodoxy club’s important members. Consider who you might like to portray and learn how to use mono printing, papercut stencils, and collage to create your own printed portraits!
Inspired by ProcessLAB
Additive and Reductive screenprint samples prepared by Katie Parry, Museum Tour Manager. Photo credit: Carlos Avendaño.