Making the Palace Yurt felts at the studio of JA Felt Centralia, Washington, 2008. Fllmed by Paul Moore. Courtesy of JA Felt.

During a visit to Cooper-Hewitt about a year and a half ago, West-coast felt-maker Janice Arnold was intrigued by the form of the museum’s conservatory. Its domed roof and iron mullions resemble the radiating struts of the framework of a yurt—the circular tent dwelling of the nomadic tribes who first created felt. Next week, Arnold...