Establishing a Lace Center and Museum
presented by Hugo Uyttenhove
15 September 2024 at 3:30 pm New York time (UTC-4)
An invitation to register for this Zoom webinar will be sent to all current IOLI Members a week before the event.
Hugo will discuss the initial momentum to create the Kristin S. Conrad Lace Center Foundation based on the legacy of his wife Kristin Conrad with the encouragement of the local guild and a dedicated board of directors. The mission of the foundation is a key element of the talk and includes the establishment of a lace center, an exhibition of lace, and an educational venue. Of course, the exhibition idea evolved into a museum. This museum, the Raleigh Lace Museum, now has the support of the Smithsonian Institution, which itself has a huge inventory of lace masterworks. We plan to bring some of the most exciting collections to our new museum. The talk will include future plans and growth, not only for the guild but for the lace community on the East Coast.
Museum website: https://www.ksclcfoundation.org/museum-IX.php
Foundation website: https://www.ksclcfoundation.org
Hugo Uyttenhove, Ph.D.
Hugo Uyttenhove, PhD, grew up in Flanders and at a young age witnessed his mother and grandmother making lace. After his university studies in the USA he moved with Kristin and their children to The Netherlands on a post-doctoral that was extended for 9 years. During that time, Kris was eager to learn to make bobbin lace having had her first experience with textile work in college in 1974. Hugo established a software company in Eindhoven and continued to expand the business in several European countries after returning to the USA in 1988, settling in Raleigh, NC. Kris co-founded the Sir Walter Lacers Guild and remained active in teaching at the pre-school and college level. Hugo continued his exposure to lacemaking as the weekly guild working gatherings took place in their house. He facilitated the exposure of finished lace works through displays in the family home.
Honoring Kris’s desire that her works, if worthwhile, would continue to be displayed, he started the Kristin S. Conrad Lace Center Foundation in 2002 with the intent to build a museum.