I feel I must correct the impression that there is a Lace Study Center at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Dawn has visited the Antonio Ratti Textile Center. Perhaps Anna (from Sidney) and I could correspond privately about how to view textiles there if she has something she wants to study. Recently the Cooper-Hewitt has reopened after a massive renovation. I went right over to see if any of their 2500 pieces of lace had been put on display. To my pleasant surprise there are about 10 pieces on display, which is quite a lot to have on public display in New York. There is an exhibition on the second floor of the museum dealing with the collecting habits of the Hewitt sisters who started the museum back in the day when lace was more properly prioritized. So there are a number of pieces in this exhibit, along with some material about the Needle and Bobbin Club. Also on the second floor there is an exhibit whose educational thrust seems to be to group items of the same color together. In this exhibit there is a chantilly parasol displayed next to a silhouette and a collection of 17th century white tassels against a white background. There is also a many time published cravat featuring people playing musical instruments in very fine needle lace which was reputedly made for the wedding of the Duke of Burgundy and Marie Adelaide of Savoy displayed against a white background. Regrettably it is very difficult to see the intricacy of the stitches and the beauty of the design with it displayed against white. https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18444505/ Perhaps Anna would like to eat at the Stix restaurant at the Indigo Hotel. It has recently had a lace installation, a large screen, put in it by artist Manca Ahlen. You can view it here http://design.mantzalin.com/portfolio-items/stix-lace-screen/ Unfortunately, for the city that has everything, there isn't any store selling lace supplies that I know about. However for people who want to walk on the wild side, fiberwise, there is an exotic thread store, Habu textiles. http://habutextiles.com/ Regarding lace groups, there are a couple in New Jersey, and I am copying this to them, but it is a bit of a distance and I don't know that any rendezvous would be possible. Devon
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