Project Threadways Symposium 2026

Since 2019, Project Threadways has hosted annual symposia exploring the intersections of design, art, making, power, labor, and community. Each gathering has expanded on a central inquiry: how can making—especially through design and textiles—help us better understand the social, economic, and environmental systems we live within? 

Held April 24-25 in Florence, Alabama, the 2026 Project Threadways Symposium continues this exploration through the theme of Regeneration. Presentations, workshops, and exhibitions center cotton, from soil to shelf to symbol—who grows it, how it is nurtured, who benefits in the global marketplace, and its generational legacy. Speakers explore power and representation in the supply chain, connect craft and culture, and showcase pioneers who are restoring health and humanity to the world’s most ubiquitous fiber. 

Regeneration reflects the core values of Project Threadways: slowness as care, sustainability as origin, and education as liberation. It reckons with the harms of industrialized and extractive systems, offering repair through circularity, agency, and authorship. 

Registration is now open. Seating is limited and past symposia have sold out—early registration is strongly encouraged. A waiting list will be available once capacity is reached. 

Please find the schedule of events below. 

The 2026 Project Threadways Symposium will not be live-streamed, however presentations will be recorded. Video recordings are available to purchase and will be sent via email after the event. 

Please email think@projectthreadways.org with questions. 

SCHEDULE 

Events will be held at The Factory unless otherwise noted. Schedule is subject to change. 

Thursday, April 23

5:30 p.m. — Opening Reception with chef Lisa Donovan

Friday, April 24

9 a.m. — Registration and Breakfast

9:30 a.m. — Welcome

10:15 a.m. — Marcie Cohen Ferris on the New Deal, WPA, and cotton stories

11 a.m. — Stephen Satterfield on reclaiming cotton at COMOCO

12 p.m. — Polly Leonard on 20 years of Regeneration stories at Selvedge

12:45 p.m. — Lunch

1:45 p.m. — Libby O’Bryan on rebuilding after a hurricane

3:15 p.m. — Break

5 p.m. — Echoes of the Forks of Cypress film screening and descendant panel at Shoals Theatre

Saturday, April 25

9 a.m. — Breakfast

9:30 a.m. — Shradha Kochhar on material memory and cotton legacies

10:30 a.m. — Workshop (details to be announced)

12:30 p.m. — Lunch by chef Lisa Donovan

2 p.m. — Oral history presentation and panel

2:30 p.m. — Closing remarks