Daniel Fountain "Nest" (detail)

SDA Blog

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Friday Fibers Roundup

February 10, 2017

This week’s Friday Fibers Roundup features bacteria-dyed silk scarves, knitted ramen noodles, and a list of innovative new materials for designers to keep an eye out for. 1) The Sari Project, created by Malika Verma Kashyap (owner of Bangalore-based creative agency Border & Fall), is a series of three short films on the sari’s past, present, …

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Winner of SDA’s Small Events Grant, mended: A Traveling Exhibition of Contemporary Textile Art featured the work of twenty-five SDA members from British Columbia and Yukon sharing their stories through creative expressions of mending and repair. Over the course of a year, the exhibition traveled to three different locations, each featuring demo sessions to engage …

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Surface Design Association is celebrating our 40th Anniversary this year! In honor of that, we’re posting forty year flashbacks to some of the early years of Surface Design Journal. This week we look back on the Summer 1979 Journal “Supplies & Suppliers” with the article “Fiber / Landscape” by Bruce Talbot and Laura Lovett. Be …

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Friday Fibers Roundup

February 3, 2017

From open-source protest banners, knitted brain hats in the name of science, and world record-breaking blankets in South Africa, this week’s Friday Fibers Roundup looks at how the fibers and textile is community coming together in these tumultuous times. 1) Stephanie Syjuco (Professor at UC Berkeley) is openly sharing and disseminating her patterns for fabric …

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Founded by Olivia Jane in 2014, Lady Art is an intersectional feminist group for creatives. With over 1,000 members in NYC, Nevada, and Chicago, each chapter uses online platforms to share art projects, articles, and coordinate events and meet-ups. Lady Art acts as a safe space—encompassing all ethnicities, genders, and creative endeavors. Today we’re spotlighting …

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Friday Fibers Roundup

January 27, 2017

From a near-death experience with puppets to an innovative plywood-like chair made from flax, this Friday Fibers Roundup covers both and many great things in between. 1) “The Big Stitch: Making America Good Again” looks at how teacher, Tyler Bush, is changing the type of education his students are receiving to reflect what the next …

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Crafting Community: SDA Inaugural International Exhibition In Print received 412 entries from 13 countries, revealing the global reach of the SDA community. Jurors Mark Newport and Marci Rae McDade selected 40 artists in honor of SDA’s upcoming 40th Anniversary, 8 of which being award winners. The artists featured in the Journal are a wonderful variety of material exploration …

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Carol Westfall Memoriam

January 18, 2017

Carol Westfall, an artist known internationally and a retired Professor of textiles in the Art Department at Montclair State University, Montclair, New Jersey, died December 11, 2016. She was 78. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design (BA) and the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) (MFA), Westfall was also an instructor at Teachers College, …

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Friday Fibers Roundup

January 13, 2017

An exhibition featuring beautiful weavings, a call for papers from West Dean, and a funny photo series of a man wearing hand-made sweaters of tourist locations is what you can expect in this week’s Friday Fibers Roundup. 1) Artist Hannah Claire Somerville recently completed her project, 1 year of stitches, a one-minute time-lapse video showing …

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Artists are always seeking new inspiration—from natural forms to urban cities, historical objects to contemporary design—and when you find something that truly resonates with you, it sticks for a long time. Quinn Papazian is the Design Studio Manager at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and has been cataloging patterns she finds via Instagram. Here …

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