The Center for Design and Material Culture is the primary destination for the multi-disciplinary study of material culture and design at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
EXPLORE OUR COLLECTION AND GALLERIES
Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection
The Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection is one of the nation’s largest university-held textile collections with over 13,000 textile artifacts spanning 16 centuries and 108 countries.
Ruth Davis Design Gallery
The Ruth Davis Design Gallery is an exhibition space focused on the processes and results of design. Exhibitions include national, international makers, and students from the School of Human Ecology’s Design Studies program.
Lynn Mecklenburg Textile Gallery
The Lynn Mecklenburg Textile Gallery provides a space dedicated to rotating exhibitions of the School of Human Ecology's Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection.
Featured Exhibitions & Events
Rapid Response Mask Collecting Project
This exhibition seeks to understand the new ways in which textiles play a critical role in our daily lives as protective face coverings. To do so, it uses a "rapid response" collecting model to select masks for the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection which mark this contemporary moment as historic.
Residential Design for Health and Longevity
Join Cynthia Leibrock, author, lecturer, and designer, for a virtual tour of her universally designed home that encourages healthy lifestyles and design that allows aging in place.