Photo of a woman with brown hair leaning over and touching a blue and white kimono on a white table

Innovative approaches to teaching

Resources for instructors
Photo of a an open drawer with a large plate with an image of a woman on the surface

Investigating the material world

Resources for researchers

Creative expressions of research

See our current exhibitions

About the Nancy M. Bruce Center for
Design and Material Culture

The Nancy M. Bruce 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. The center focuses on the study of textiles, material culture, and design—our three pillars—and is a hub for innovative programs that engage local, national, and international audiences. The Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection, the Ruth Davis Design Gallery, and the Lynn Mecklenburg Textile Gallery support our work.

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Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection

The Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection is a teaching collection with over 13,000 textile artifacts spanning 22 centuries and 120 countries, making it one of the world’s largest university-held textile collections. Thousands of pieces from the collection are available for public study, loaned to outside exhibitions, and all objects are viewable online.

Explore the collection

The Nancy M. Bruce Center for Design and Material Culture is a hub for the study of textiles, design, and material culture—connecting our remarkable textile collection, UW–Madison’s innovative design research community, and the center’s leading material culture scholarship and exhibition program with students, scholars, makers, and community members from across Madison and around the world.

— Sarah Anne Carter, executive director of the center and associate professor in Design Studies