University of North Texas 
Annette Becker
Texas Fashion Collection
Curator & Director
WSC1, Room 103
Welch Street Complex 1
405 S. Welch St., Denton, Texas
Alum: 2015, M.A., Art History with a minor in Art Education and Graduate Certificate in Art Museum Education
About
Areas of Expertise: 19th and 20th-century fashion and material culture, museology
About
As the director and curator of the Texas Fashion Collection, Annette Becker focuses
on external-facing projects related to collection research, access and advocacy, ensuring
engagement with TFC holdings.
To improve accessibility to TFC artifacts, Becker leads academic programming that
connects diverse audiences with the collection. This initiative serves 4,500 learners
annually, from university classes augmenting their curriculum to industry leaders
conducting research to individuals enhancing their creative projects. Becker also
lectures broadly, speaking to community and professional groups at venues such as
the Dallas Museum of Art, Denton Maker Center in Texas, the Bruce Center for Design
and Material Culture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Lyndon B. Johnson National
Historical Park in Stonewall, Texas, and the National Arts Club in New York City.
These education-oriented efforts have provided impactful access to TFC holdings, sparking
new ways for people to understand design, culture and history.
Becker augments educational programming with curatorial projects that showcase the
TFC’s research and thought leadership in venues ranging from art museums to shopping
centers. Her curatorial practice bridges contemporary topics and trends with historic
artifacts, connecting popular and academic understandings of fashion history. Recent
projects include “Labor of Luxury: Embroidery from India to the World” at NorthPark
Center in Dallas and the UNT CVAD Galleries in Denton; “Tongue in Chic: The Humor
and High Fashion of Todd Oldham” at the Tyler Museum of Art in Tyler, Texas; “Endless
Summer: Florals in Fashion” at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden; and “Fashion
Forward” at the Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin, Texas.
Becker first served as a graduate student volunteer and area assistant from 2013 to
2015 before returning in 2016 to serve as director. Her work is informed by professional
experience in cultural institutions nationwide, including the Spencer Museum of Art
at the University of Kansas; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas; Speed Art Museum, Louisville,
Kentucky; Kentucky Shakespeare, Lousville, Kentucky; Historic Deerfield, Deerfield,
Massachusetts; and Mid-America Arts Alliance, Kansas City, Missouri. She holds an
M.A. in art history with a minor in Art Education from UNT and anticipates completing
a Ph.D. in history in fall 2025.
For more on Becker’s object-based research at the TFC, see the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee’s Center for Design and Material Culture Conversation Series, Feb. 10, 2021.
For more on Becker’s educational programming and outreach, see the Costume Society of American Conversation on Dress video, April 2023.
"Delight: Selections from the Texas Fashion Collection," Jan. 25–May 21, 2022, CVAD Gallery, UNT Art Building
GQ magazine, May 7, 2020: Texas Fashion Collection "...is now one of the most significant fashion collections in the United States." Read the article.