This is the first program in the Interwoven: A Tradition of Textiles exhibition lecture series.

In tandem with the exhibition Interwoven: A Tradition of Textiles on view at Hillwood from June 6, 2026 to January 3, 2027, please join Elena Kanagy-Loux for this talk showcasing the intricacies of the female-dominated industry of lacemaking. 

The proliferation of historical literature and portraits depicting lacemakers in idyllic settings is a testament to the way in which this technique captured the imagination of contemporaries—but how did this contrast with their lived experiences? Whereas lace itself was consumed as a signifier of wealth and a leisured status, its makers were often denied access to the full economic fruits of their labor. Popular stereotypes of lacemakers imagine them from the antithetical extremes of frivolous hobbyists to long-suffering victims of exploitation and blindness, but their realities are much more nuanced. Using written and visual sources alongside archival records, this lecture will pull back the layers of misconception shrouding this female-dominated industry to illustrate lacemakers’ creativity, ingenuity, and resilience.

Images courtesy of Elena Kanagy-Loux.

HYBRID PROGRAM 

This lecture will be presented in the theater in the Ellen MacNeille Charles Visitor Center and will be livestreamed via Zoom. Visitors can submit questions for the speaker from any location. 

IN-PERSON TIMELINE

5:30–6:30 p.m. | Explore Hillwood

• Enjoy Hillwood’s mansion, gardens,  greenhouse, and exhibition, Interwoven: A Tradition of Textiles
• Find the perfect memento from your visit at the museum shop

6:30–7:30 p.m. | Lecture 

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Elena Kanagy-Loux is a PhD student at Bard Graduate center whose research into global lace history and the lives of lacemakers is grounded in her own experience as a maker. After earning a BFA in Textile Design from FIT, she won a grant which funded a four-month trip to study lacemaking across over a dozen European countries. Upon returning to NYC, she co-founded Brooklyn Lace Guild, an organization dedicated to the preservation of making lace by hand. In 2018 she completed her MA in Costume Studies at NYU and began working as the Collections Specialist at the Antonio Ratti Textile Center at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She was commissioned to create special bobbin lace designs for the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 2018 and for the BGC exhibition Threads of Power: Lace in the Textilmuseum St. Gallen in 2022, as well as to create an experimental lace reconstruction to the EU-funded research project Refashioning the Renaissance.