The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum honored Bruce P. Baganz with its 2015 George Hewitt Myers Award for his leadership in transforming The Textile Museum during a gala event on Saturday at the Metropolitan Club of Washington, D.C.
The Myers Award is presented annually by the museum’s board of trustees for lifetime achievement in the textile arts.
Dr. Baganz serves as president of the Board of Trustees of The Textile Museum and co-chair of the joint board of the George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum. Through his leadership, The Textile Museum affiliated with the George Washington University in May 2012 and reopened in March 2015 with financial strength in new facilities that will sustain the museum for future generations as a leader in expanding public knowledge and appreciation of the textile arts.
He is also chairman of the Near Eastern Art Research Center, a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Trust for the Humanities, a member of the Board of Visitors, College of Arts and Sciences, University of South Carolina and a member of the World of Islamic Arts Committee at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Dr. Baganz is an internationally known collector of antique carpets and textiles from the Middle East and Central Asia. He is the 2008 recipient of the Joseph V. McMullan Award for Stewardship and Scholarship in Islamic Rugs and Textiles, which is recognized as the most prestigious award in the field of oriental carpets.