The Fabric Workshop And Museum And Ars Nova Workshop Present THE LIVING TEMPLE: THE WORLD OF MOKI CHERRY

The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM), in partnership with Ars Nova Workshop (ANW), will present The Living Temple: The World of Moki Cherry, the largest U.S. survey of Swedish visual artist and designer Moki Cherry (1943–2009).

The exhibition runs September 25, 2025 through April 12, 2026 and features textiles, tapestries, paintings, drawings, concert posters, clothing, ceramics, sculpture, music, video, and archival material, highlighting Cherry’s omnivorous creativity and collaborative practice.

Presented in tandem is Talismans for a Theater of Resilience, a new body of work by FWM Artist-in-Residence Lisa Alvarado (b. 1982). Known for her vibrant free-hanging paintings used as stage sets with the band Natural Information Society, Alvarado will debut fabric, light, and sound installations created in collaboration with FWM Studio.

Both exhibitions will be animated by live programming curated by Ars Nova Workshop, including performances by Natural Information Society on Sunday, October 12 at 3:30pm and 5:30pm.

About The Living Temple: The World of Moki Cherry

Moki Cherry coined the mantra “home is stage, stage is home”, transforming domestic spaces into immersive art environments. Her collaboration with partner Don Cherry (1936–1995) fused music, theater, and visual art in the 1960s and 70s, producing visionary audiovisual experiences under the banner of “Organic Music.” This exhibition explores Cherry’s transcultural approach, weaving together Swedish folk motifs, African and South Asian textiles, and Indigenous craft traditions into a practice that anticipated contemporary conversations around migration, diaspora, and hybridity.

“Moki Cherry was an artist who exploded the boundaries of art in compelling and ever-surprising ways,” said Kelly Shindler, Executive Director of FWM. “We are honored to present the largest ever survey of her work in the United States and to pair it with new work by Lisa Alvarado in a rich exchange of visual art and experimental music.”

About Talismans for a Theater of Resilience

Chicago-based artist Lisa Alvarado creates immersive environments combining large-scale textile works with light and sound. For her FWM residency, she draws on Mexican American heritage, ancestral memory, and regional research into Philadelphia’s geology to develop monumental textile “talismans” that double as architectural interventions.

“For me, the works are material vessels of time, processed through lived experience and charged with the vibrations of life, music, and love,” said Alvarado.

Her new works—each over 19 by 10 feet—merge saturated colors, translucent fabrics, and shifting daylight with soundscapes, transforming FWM’s eighth floor gallery into a temporary theater of resilience.

Special Events

• Press Preview: Thursday, Sept. 25, 10am–12pm, with curators’ tour and refreshments (optional lunch to follow).

• Natural Information Society Performances: Sunday, Oct. 12 at 3:30pm & 5:30pm (within Lisa Alvarado’s exhibition).

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