Collaborative Work Shines at Slater Mill Museum
07/28/2014
A beautiful new show featuring the collaborative work of 37 RISD students – and inspired by works of art at the RISD Museum – opens today at the historic Slater Mill Museum in Pawtucket, RI. The show represents the stunning outcomes of a Collaborative Print Project between the Textiles and Apparel Design departments.
Last spring 14 Textiles students in the CAD in Textiles class taught by Senior Critic Regina Gregorio spent hours behind the scenes at the RISD Museum exploring a variety of floral embroideries, prints and garments in the extensive Costume and Textiles collection not on view to the public. They then designed digital prints inspired by specific works in the Museum’s collection.
Once the Textiles students’ designs had been digitally printed on cotton fabric, 23 Apparel Design students in a Sophomore Apparel Development class co-taught by faculty members Beth Bentley and Suzanne Mancinipicked numbers out of a hat to determine which fabric they’d receive. “That’s true to the way this works in the industry,” Bentley explains. “Apparel designers are often asked to design garments well suited to specific fabric that they’re not able to choose themselves. So this is a very practical and valuable project.”
Just as their peers in Textiles had responded to works in the Museum to create their fabric designs, Apparel Design students took their inspiration from the fabric itself in creating garments designed to complement and make optimal use of the print designs.
For the exhibition at the Slater Mill Museum, each textile design is shown paired with the best examples of garments inspired by the fabric in question. It makes for an interesting take on the entire concept of creative inspiration and offers a prime example of the symbiotic relationship between art and design – works from the RISD Museum inspire designs created in the CAD lab; the printed cotton fabric inspires the designs taking shape on dress forms; and the final work goes on view at yet another museum, where you can catch the show through January 2, 2012.
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