TuftCon '23, Philadelphia's first tufting convention, with the exhibition Pile Paragons (24–26 March 2023)

Event · not yet checked at the source · Image permission pending

Made by: Tim Eads and Tiernan Alexander (Tuft the World)
Date: 24–26 March 2023
Place: Philadelphia (Asian Arts Initiative; Bok Building)
Themes: Companies & modern tufting, Hand-tufting tools & the gun

View at the source Cited in chapter 13, note 47

Cite this source

WHYY, 2023; PhillyVoice; Itinerant Pictures, "Tuft the World". whyy.org/articles/philadelphia-tuftcon-2023-tufting-rug-making.

Research notes

Philadelphia's first tufting convention, organised by Tim Eads and Tiernan Alexander of Tuft the World, the firm they founded in West Philadelphia in 2018 (the author's own firm). It opened at the Asian Arts Initiative with workshops, demonstrations and lectures, then moved to the Bok Building for an opening reception and Pile Paragons, an exhibition of tufted work curated by Qualeasha Wood (spelled "Qualesha" in a WHYY caption). It drew over 100 attendees, and the organisers hoped to hold it every other year and take it to other cities (WHYY, "'Building a community': Rug-makers and artists to converge at TuftCon in Philly"; PhillyVoice; Itinerant Pictures). A WHYY photograph shows "Frida Kahlo" by Venus Perez in Pile Paragons. Research note (Oct 2026): from search results; pages not opened.