Cooper Hewitt says...
Milton Sonday’s 30-year tenure at Cooper Hewitt began in 1967, when he became the museum’s Assistant Curator of Textiles. Prior to joining what was, at that time, the Cooper Union Museum, Sonday had been curator in charge of the rug collection at The Textile Museum in Washington, D.C. from 1961. He contributed numerous articles to The Textile Museum Journal, and to the 1987 publication Woven from the Soul, Spun from the Heart.
Sonday served during the museum’s move from Cooper Union to its new home in the Carnegie Mansion, under the stewardship of Smithsonian Institution. In 1977, he became Curator of Textiles, a title he retained until he retired. He curated numerous exhibitions, including Lace (1982) and Color, Light, Surface: Recent Textiles (1990). His significant acquisitions to the museum’s collection included examples of cutting-edge textile technology, as well as important historic works such as the museum’s famed Safavid velvet panel. Sonday’s research and teaching have focused on textile structure and pattern, expressed in detailed analysis and elegant diagrams of complex weaves.
Sonday was one of the founders of the Textile Society of America, and served on the board of directors of CIETA. In 2011, Sonday was the recipient of the George Hewitt Myers Award, which recognizes lifetime achievement and exceptional contributions to the field of textile arts.
