Back to Goldsmiths, University of London: Projects

Constance Howard Resource and Research Centre

The Constance Howard Resource and Research Centre Textiles, which opened to the public in Spring 2003, houses a diverse and fascinating collection of textiles, and has attracted widespread support from artists, researchers and curators.

The Collection was established in the 1980's by Audrey Walker and named in honour of inspirational Goldsmiths textiles teacher, Constance Howard. Prior to her death in 2000 Howard donated her collection of textiles to Goldsmiths on condition that they would be suitably stored. With the help of an Arts and Humanities Research Council grant Goldsmiths created the Constance Howard Centre incorporating state of the art storage and display systems.

The collection is rich, eclectic and idiosyncratic. It now includes over 4,000 pieces of textile, including specially commissioned teaching samples, Japanese techno-fabrics and tiny fragments of lace and embroidery plus thousands of slides documenting student work from the 1940's.