Extreme Sheep Herding!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2FX9rviEhw

Now I realize this is a little off topic but still it's sheep! This is an amazing video. I thought it was a great way to end the semester and perfect for the holiday.

Happy Holidays!

Enjoy!

Amanda

Textile Design Exhibition

Opening Reception

Monday Dec 7. 5:00pm-7:00pm

Kanbar Livingroom

Textile Design Exhibition

2009 Dec 7 -15

Master of Science

Arpita Kohli

JinA Choe

Lei Ting

Nidhi Kasula

Soo Kyung Joung

Bachelor of Science

Maria Scatena

Melissa Granum

Will Fritz

Pattern and Loom

Pattern and Loom by John Becker is available on-line.

"John Becker’s intention with the book was that it would be useful to professional weavers, textile historians, and museum conservators, but historians of technology will also appreciate it. It will undoubtedly also be attractive to amateur weavers, though they may well find that the use of his methods requires more sophisticated equipment than is available to most amateurs."

Read more at:
http://donwagner.dk/Pattern-and-Loom.pdf

Tord Bootje visits the Philadelphia University Textile Department

On November 19th Tord Boontje visited the Textile design department. Tord had casual critiques with the seniors and Graduate students.

Tord is participating in the Lace in Translation show currently at the Design center.

For more information please visit:

http://tordboonjte.com

http://www.laceintranslation.com/

Textile Baby Shower: Congratulations Soo Yeun

Last week, the Textile Grad students held a surprise baby show for one of their own, Soo Yeun. Soo Yeun is expecting her second child.

Congratulations!

Lace in Translation Collaborative Project Part 4: Threshold

Crossing thresholds can mark a change or transition within us. They instill a sense of reverence for the act of crossing, and the inherent importance of what is on the other side. Our vestibule adds value to the façade of the library by enveloping visitors in a mobius of subtle earth tones and intricate knit lace.

April Deley, Industrial Design

Mike Hill, Landscape Architecture

Angela Leonard, Textile Design

Geoffrey Quinter, Industrial Design

Lace in Translation Collaborative Project Part 3: Cascade

Brought together by the Lace in Translation exhibition, Sean Kennon, Jayme Lamborn, and Amanda McGonagle created the installation Cascade. Woven plastic, cotton and acrylic flows over plastic rods seemingly floating. Cascade was design for and is displayed in the entry way of Tuttleman Hall.

Created By:

Sean Kennon, Industrial Design

Jayme Lamborn, Interior Design

Amanda McGonagle, Textile Design

Lace In Translation Colabrative Projects Part 2: Newton’s 4th Law Offended

An interpretation of the physical act of lacing light through gravitational mechanisms. The elements of a void and solid create a transparency through which light from above is channeled through the piece in a lacing circulation. Each tier decreases in size as the mass being pulled increases. This rhythm of production and progression creates a visual explosion frozen in space. Gravity pulls in different directions creating several gestures in weight perception. Could this offend newtons 4th law? Some say Newton never made a 4th law but if he did it would have been about gravity. Who’s to say that anyone of us couldn’t define what the 4th law entails.

F=Gm₁m₂/d²

F- force of gravity

G is a measurable constant

m₁ and m₂ are the masses of the two objects

d the distance between m₁ and m₂

_{Created By:}

Jennifer Sulikowski, Textile Design, 5th semester Grad

John Modestine, Industrial Design, Junior Undergrad

Renee Horst, Interior Design, Junior Undergrad

Lace in Translation Collaborative Pieces Part 1: Hands On

Hands on is a piece that captures lace in object form. These pieces are created by the hand and made for the hand. Hands on is meant to be engaged and moved by users. Its location in Kanbar is purposefully aligned on the south facing wall to filter light that passes through the glass and into the lobby. The blank frames capture new dynamic forms of lace through the changing seasons and traffic passing by beyond the wall.

By Sara Davis, Hannah Mantooth, and Chantelle Wilson

Congratulations! Arpita Kohli won ITMA cover competition

On the behalf of the International Textile Market Association's Educational Foundation, ITMA organizes The Showtime Magazine " Cover Competition" twice a year.

The winning design appears on the cover of the Showtime Magazine, Directory and Guide as well as other marketing materials produced and distributed for the ITMA show each year.

The design has to be made keeping in mind the current trends in color and design.

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for ‘Lace Futures’ Collaborative Installations

Thursday, Oct. 22 11:30 a.m.
In front of the Paul J. Gutman LibraryInterdisciplinary teams of students have created site-specific, lace-themed installations as a result of the spring 2009 campus-wide Lace Futures exhibition that will be displayed on campus. A ribbon cutting ceremony will take place in front of the Paul J. Gutman Library to celebrate these collaborative works by students. The event is free and open to the University community and the public. Installations will be located in the Kanbar Campus Center Living Room, The Tuttleman Center, Ravenhill Dining Hall and at the Paul J. Gutman Library. These projects are funded by a generous grant from Cotton, Inc.

Serizawa: Master of Japanese Textile Design

Friday, October 9 — Sunday, January 17

Living National Treasure Serizawa Keisuke (1895–1984) used stencil-dyeing techniques to create irresistible works of art that range from screens and kimonos to book covers and magazine designs. The combination of Serizawa’s originality and vitality with the natural beauty of his materials—cotton, silk, hemp, and other fibers decorated with the brilliant yet warm hues of natural dyes—will make this show an unmissable visual feast.

For more information: http://www.japansociety.org/event_detail?eid=41b9f5c

Submitted by Hyunsoo Kim

FXI launches design competition for Philadelphia University students

Home Textiles Today, 10/14/2009 11:01:00 AM

Media, Pa. – Bedding foam products company FXI Foamex Innovations together with Philadelphia University is launching a design competition for students to create a new memory foam sleep product for the retail market.

The semester-long competition, open to both undergraduate and graduate students, was created to enhance their educations, provide hands-on industry experience, help prepare them for future employment, and, “quite possibly,” FIX noted, “uncover the next great sleep product innovation.”

“Engaging with outside partners and academia is a key element of our innovation process,” said Alvaro Vaselli, svp of Foam Products Business Management for Philadelphia-based FXI. “Our foam innovations reach far and wide – they make medical products safer, make vehicles quieter, electronics more reliable, household cleaning products more efficient and, yes, furnishings and bedding more comfortable and durable. Our job is to uncover new foam solutions every day. By partnering with Philadelphia University, we can foster that creative approach to the industry among its next generation of designers and leaders.”

The competition targets students from Philadelphia University’s School of Engineering and Textiles as well as its Industrial Design Program. Student entries will be judged on: innovation, features and benefits, and commercial viability. The competition will be featured on the FXI website. 

The winning team will be announced in February and will receive $1,000 plus an all-expenses paid trip to launch the product design at the International Sleep Products Association conference next March in Charlotte, N.C. In addition, the top five student teams will see their designs will be manufactured into products by FXI and its industry partners.

“This design competition is an innovative way for [our students] to learn about the changing face of textile manufacturing in Philadelphia and elsewhere and bring their studies to life with hands-on industry experience,” said Janet Brady, associate professor of textiles, School of Engineering and Textiles at Philadelphia University.

http://www.hometextilestoday.com/article/CA6701994.html?nid=2063&rid=7299770>
 
http://hfnmag.com/news-trends/news-landing/article/fxi-launches-design-competition/ 

Sorona® renewably sourced polymer*

DuPont has been defining the fiber industry for more than 50 years with the discovery and commercialization of well-known fibers such as nylon, rayon and spandex. With the introduction of Sorona® DuPont has commercialized the most advanced polymer platform in over six decades. Sorona® is made partially with agricultural feedstocks instead of petrochemicals, reducing our dependency on oil. In addition to fibers and fabrics, Sorona® can be used in films, filaments, engineering resins and other applications.
*Sorona® contains 37% renewably sourced ingredients by weight.

For more information see: http://www2.dupont.com/Sorona/en_US/ or http://vocuspr.vocus.com/VocusPR30/Newsroom/Query.aspx?SiteName=DupontNew&Entity=PRAsset&SF_PRAsset_PRAssetID_EQ=112184&XSL=PressRelease&Cache=False

Submitted by Sarah Sheber

33rd Annual Philadelphia Museum Of Art Craft Show Welcomes Artists From Korea

August 3, 2009 PHILADELPHIA, PA — The Women's Committee of the Philadelphia Museum and the Craft Show Committee are delighted to announce the participation of 26 leading craft artists from Korea to showcase their work at the 33rd Annual Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show to be held November 12 through November 15 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

Continued at: http://pmacraftshow.org/news/news_016.php
Submitted by Hyunsoo Kim

This year marks the tenth annual Philadelphia Open Studio Tours or POST which features Philadelphia visual artists in neighborhoods all over the city opening their studios to the public to show and sell their work.  This weekend, October 10 and 11, is reserved for those artists who studios are west of Broad Street.

 

Included in this weekend’s POST tours is “Sharp Street Studios.”   Located in Manayunk, it houses the workspaces for five fiber artists including two alumni of Philadelphia University’s Textile Design Program.  Pam Pawl, a weaver, received her B.S. in Textile Design and went on to teach weave design from 1995 – 2001.  Wendelyn Anderson is a print and surface designer who received her M.S. in Textile Design in 1999 and continues to work for the University as the technical and administrative assistant for the Textile Print Design program under the direction of Professor Hitoshi Ujiie. 

 

Sharp Street Studios is located at 3745 Sharp Street (Philadelphia, 19127).  The open studio hours are Saturday and Sunday from noon – 6 pm.  For more information log onto: www.philaopenstudios.com

Submitted by Wendy Anderson

The 33rd annual Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show will be held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center November 11th through 15th, 2009; Preview Party, November 11th.

This premier show and sale of contemporary craft, includes 195 of the finest and most dynamic craft artists in the United States, selected from 1,402 applicants. All work is for sale.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show is presented annually by the Museum's Women's Committee and Craft Show Committee for the benefit of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Funds raised are used to purchase works of art and craft for the permanent collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, to fund conservation and publication projects, and to support exhibitions and education programs.

http://pmacraftshow.org/

Submitted by Hyunsoo Kim

ONE MILLION WILD SPIDERS FROM MADAGASCAR SUPPLIED SILK FOR RARE TEXTILE ON DISPLAY AT AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

A spectacular and extremely rare textile, woven from golden-colored silk thread produced by more than one million spiders in Madagascar, goes on display Wednesday, September 23 in the Museum's Grand Gallery. This magnificent contemporary textile, measuring 11 feet by 4 feet, took four years to make using a painstaking technique developed more than 100 years ago.

This unique textile was created drawing on the legacy of a French missionary, Jacob Paul Camboué, who worked with spiders in Madagascar in the 1880s and 1890s. Camboué worked to collect and weave spider silk but with limited success, and no surviving textile is now known to exist. Previously, the only known spider-silk textile of note was exhibited at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900, and it was subsequently lost.

Producing the spider silk—the only example of its kind displayed anywhere in the world—involved the efforts of 70 people who collected spiders daily from webs on telephone wires, using long poles. These spiders were all collected during the rainy season (the only time when they produce silk) from Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar, and the surrounding countryside. These giant spider webs are a well-known feature of the capital, and frequently surprise international visitors. A dozen more people were needed to draw the silk from the spiders with hand-powered machines, with each spider producing about 80 feet of silk filament. This intricately-patterned spider silk features stylized birds and flowers and is based on a weaving tradition known as lamba Akotifahana from the highlands of Madagascar, an art reserved for the royal and upper classes of the Merina people (who are concentrated in the Central highlands). Silkworm silk has been used for a long period in Madagascar, however, there is no tradition of weaving spider silk in Madagascar. In this unique lamba cloth, the individual threads used for weaving are made by twisting 96 to 960 individual spider silk filaments together.

The silk fiber was gathered from the female golden orb spider (Nephila madagascariensis), which is renowned for the lustrous golden hue of its silk fiber. The male spider does not produce silk. The golden orb spider of Madagascar is just one of about 36 members of the Nephila genus. These spiders are found throughout the tropics and are known as golden orb weavers for their big, gold-colored webs. The webs can often be seen between telephone and electrical wires—and are sometimes large enough to span a one-lane road.

Almost all silk fabric is made from silkworm moth cocoons, but people have occasionally tried to make cloth from spider silk. One of the biggest challenges is the cannibalistic nature of spiders, which makes it very difficult to raise them in captivity, unlike silkworms. Spiders can be collected in the wild and then placed in a device to keep them still so the silk can be drawn. Afterwards, the spiders are released back into the wild.

For its weight, spider silk is stronger than steel, but—unlike steel—it can stretch up to 40% of its normal length. Scientists are trying to produce this intriguing material artificially on a large scale for possible uses on the battlefield, in surgery, for space exploration, and elsewhere. Since raising spiders has proven difficult, researchers are investigating ways to replicate spider silk to avoid harvesting. However, spider silk is difficult to mimic in a lab because the silk begins as a liquid in the spider's gland, becoming a remarkably strong, water-resistant solid after following a complicated course through the spider's interior.

The curator for the spider silk is Ian Tattersall, Curator, Division of Anthropology, with consulting by Norman Platnick, Curator, Division of Invertebrate Zoology.

The textile is on loan from Simon Peers and Nicholas Godley. Peers founded "lamba," an enterprise specializing in weaving, embroidery, and passementerie in Madagascar, working with architects and designers around the world. Lamba's regular silk textiles have been acquired by museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Art Institute in Chicago, the National Museum of African Art, the Smithsonian, and the British Museum. Godley arrived in Madagascar in 1994 and created a small manufacturing company specializing in raffia products. He launched his first collection of fashion handbags in 1999 at Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus. In 2005, Godley closed the factory and moved key personnel and resources to Antananarivo, Madagascar to work on the spider silk partnership with Peers.

Visitors interested in learning more about traditional silk-making can also visit the Museum's Traveling the Silk Road: Ancient Pathway to the Modern World, which opens on November 14. This intriguing exhibition brings to life one of the greatest trading routes in human history, showcasing the goods, cultures, and technologies from four representative cities: Xi'an, China's Tang Dynasty capital; Turfan, a verdant oasis and trading outpost; Samarkand, home of prosperous merchants who thrived on the caravan trade; and ancient Baghdad, a fertile hub of commerce and scholarship that became the intellectual center of the era.

http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/spidersilk/?src=e_h

For more information also see:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/23/arts/design/23spiders.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&em

Submitted by Sarah Sheber

Philadelphia University Alum featured in WWD

Scott Free

Womens Wear Daily - Sept 29.

New York’s Lower East Side, while clearly a shopping destination for a certain crowd, isn’t the most obvious retail location for a designer whose collection is sold primarily at Barneys New York, Ikram and Colette. Then again, as Tom Scott, the avant knitwear designer who opened his first store Saturday at 55 Clinton Street, said, “I prefer an off place to something that’s so predictable.” 

The space, formerly occupied by the boutique Dear 55, is Scott’s first stab at shop-owning, as well as his first proper studio. “I’ve always worked out of my home,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to have a small space where I could really show the aesthetic fully.” And at a total of 800 square feet, 300 of which is devoted to retail, the store is a tiny slice of Scott’s vision. 

Still, he made the most of it, hiring Eri Nagasaka, a friend and interior designer, to make over the previously whitewashed box — resulting in an artfully minimal feel. The floors have been hand-burnt and charcoaled for a matte black finish, and the few tables are made from reclaimed wood. “I wanted it to look torched,” said Scott. And while the walls are still white, those that divide the store and atelier are actually giant blank painter’s canvases set on hinges so they can function as a dressing room when needed. 

A self-confessed pack-rat and collector of odds and ends, Scott, a 2007 Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation award winner who worked at Ralph Lauren before going out on his own in 2004, is selling found objects (kitschy retro napkin holders, artsy balls of yarn) alongside his collection, which hangs on a spare rack along the left wall and retails for $100 to $3,000. For fall 2010, Scott will launch Repeat Performance, a collection of 20 archived styles that will be reissued, reworked and rotated on a seasonal basis. While he plans to sell the line internationally, in New York he wants to keep it exclusive to his store. Likewise for all the one-off pieces he has plans for, another perk of owning your own store. “Sometimes it’s nice if you can make just one,” said Scott. “I have a million ideas floating around in my head, and I want to actually start making some of them.”

Jessica Iredale

 

http://www.wwd.com/fashion-news/scott-free-knitwear-designer-opens-shop-on-les-2320322

Bamboo - not an eco-friendly choice

A quick google search on bamboo will give you ample marketing hype for this recently ‘hot’ fiber choice.

About.com – knitting – states:

 

Bamboo knitting yarn is a relatively new entry in the knitting world, but it has become quite popular very quickly, and with good reason. Bamboo is a beautiful natural fiber that wears well and is a natural antibacterial.

Bamboo is a grass that is harvested and distilled into cellulose that is then spun into the yarn.

Positive Things About Bamboo Yarn

Bamboo is a renewable resource. Bamboo can be harvested without killing the plant, and it only takes a few months before the plant is ready to be harvested again. That makes it an environmentally friendly choice.

Bamboo yarn, when not mixed with unnatural fibers, is biodegradable.

Bamboo yarn is often dyed with more natural dyes that are safer for the environment.

Bamboo fabric is naturally antibacterial.

Bamboo also has ultra-violet protective properties.

Fabric knitted with bamboo is quite breathable and cool and has great drape.

Bamboo has a good luster, similar to mercerized cotton.

Bamboo is strong, flexible, and can be softer than silk when spun into yarn.

 

Potential Bamboo Negatives

Bamboo yarn loses strength when it is wet and swells considerably in water.

The yarn may not be very cohesive. Some brands split much more than others.

Bamboo needs to be hand-washed, so it isn't a great choice for things that need to be washed frequently.

 

So – environmentally friendly & safer for the environment? Whilst this may be true in terms of using a speedily renewable resource, the processing implications associated with bamboo are anything other than green.

 

 From - Bamboo: Facts behind the Fiber

http://organicclothing.blogs.com/my_weblog/2007/09/bamboo-facts-be.html

Most bamboo fabric that is the current eco-fashion rage is chemically manufactured by “cooking” the bamboo leaves and woody shoots in strong chemical solvents such as sodium hydroxide (NaOH – also known as caustic soda or lye) and carbon disulfide in a process also known as hydrolysis alkalization combined with multi-phase bleaching. Both sodium hydroxide and carbon disulfide have been linked to serious health problems. Breathing low levels of carbon disulfide can cause tiredness, headache and nerve damage. Carbon disulfide has been shown to cause neural disorders in workers at rayon manufacturers. Low levels of exposure to sodium hydroxide can cause irritation of the skin and eyes. Sodium hydroxide is a strong alkaline base also known as caustic soda or lye. In its dry crystalline form, caustic soda is one of the major ingredients of Drano. This is basically the same process used to make rayon from wood or cotton waste byproducts. Because of the potential health risks and damage to the environment surrounding the manufacturing facilities, textile manufacturing processes for bamboo or other regenerated fibers using hydrolysis alkalization with multi-phase bleaching are not considered sustainable or environmentally supportable.

 

Last month the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) issued the following consumer alert –

www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt160.shtm

Have You Been Bamboozled by Bamboo Fabrics?

Looking to be a more environmentally conscious shopper? You’ve probably heard about bamboo. Bamboo stands out for its ability to grow quickly with little or no need for pesticides, and it is used in a variety of products, from flooring to furniture. But when it comes to soft bamboo textiles, like shirts or sheets, there’s a catch: they’re actually rayon.

The Federal Trade Commission, the nation’s consumer protection agency, wants you to know that the soft “bamboo” fabrics on the market today are rayon. They are made using toxic chemicals in a process that releases pollutants into the air. Extracting bamboo fibers is expensive and time-consuming, and textiles made just from bamboo fiber don’t feel silky smooth.

There’s also no evidence that rayon made from bamboo retains the antimicrobial properties of the bamboo plant, as some sellers and manufacturers claim. Even when bamboo is the “plant source” used to create rayon, no traits of the original plant are left in the finished product.

Companies that claim a product is “bamboo” should have reliable evidence, like scientific tests and analyses, to show that it’s made of actual bamboo fiber.

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them.

 

 

In March 2009, ecotextile.com published the following new regulations from Canada –

"news@ecotextile.com"

Bamboo textiles under spotlight

 

OTTAWA – [11.03.09] Bamboo textiles produced under the man-made viscose process and sold in Canada will have to mention ‘rayon’ on all labelling and product advertising under new government authority guidelines.

The Canadian Competition Bureau (CCB) says the new move follows an increase in the amount of textiles entering Canada that are being labelled as made from bamboo. The CCB now wants textile manufacturers, importers and retailers to comply with the country’s Textile Labelling Act (TLA) and the Textile Labelling and Advertising Regulations (TLAR) as they apply to bamboo fabric.

The TTLA and the TLAR are statutes relating to the labelling, sale, importation and advertising of consumer textile articles in Canada, which require textiles to be labelled accurately.

To help retailers, brands and importers the CCB has published a document entitled: Guidance on Labelling Textile Articles Derived from Bamboo to assist the textile supply chain deal with compliance in Canada. While many products are labelled ‘bamboo’, CCB says this is not an acceptable generic name for a textile fibre unless natural bamboo has been mechanically processed in a manner similar to the process for making flax into linen-like fabrics. Most of the ‘bamboo’ products currently in the Canadian market are said to be man-made fibre derived from bamboo pulp using a chemical process.

In future, where an item of clothing or textile is made of man-made rayon fibres derived from bamboo, the generic fibre name must first make reference to either “rayon” or the corresponding process outlined in the TLAR, followed by the words “from bamboo”. Examples of acceptable generic names include “rayon”, “viscose”, “rayon from bamboo” and “viscose from bamboo”.

The CCB says until 31st August that existing stocks of ‘bamboo’ textile articles that were in production, manufactured, labelled or packaged, in the ordinary course of business, prior to March 11, 2009 can be sold. After August 31, the Bureau will conduct marketplace surveillance to ensure full compliance with the TLA.

 

Digital Printing Technology Meets Art: A Vibrant Spectacle of Color.

Heather Ujiie – Cry Wolf  

2008 Digital inkjet print on cotton,

7 panels: 48"w x132"h.

Installation @ 40 ft wide x 11 ft high.

The Galleries at Moore

20th Street and the Parkway

Philadelphia PA 19103

September 11 – October 17, 2009 

Philadelphia University's adjunct professor of Print Design, 

Heather Ujiie, creates large-scale allegorical designs that are digitally 

printed on fabric. Her new work on view at Moore is based on a 19th 

century Toile de Jouy textile where she isolates a single scene from a 

repeat pattern and manipulates its color, scale, and surface, to print a 

magical neon world of mystery and conflict. 

Ujiie’s process is a fusion of several methods including painting, 

printmaking, and digital media. She creates an original artwork, either a 

painting or drawing, then scans it and digitally alters it. Cry Wolf started 

with a commissioned toile wall covering which the artist hand drew 

from a 19th century toile fabric. After scanning her handmade original, 

she manipulated the drawing with Photoshop software to achieve the 

commissioned wallpaper’s meticulous details and textures. The large-scale 

work on fabric was then printed using a state-of-the-art digital ink jet 

printer. This technology is capable of producing very large-scale prints and 

enormous color variations that otherwise could not be achieved with 

conventional techniques – in this case, a vibrant spectacle of color. 

Artist Statement 

I have always been fascinated by traditional Toile de Jouy textile prints which 

historically have portrayed vignettes of heroic deeds and mythic scenes of 

battle. The detailed narratives poignantly represent the human condition 

through scenes rich in allegory and symbolism. 

When I was a child growing up in New York City, we often visited the medieval 

Cloisters Museum, where The Unicorn Tapestries displayed the mythological 

hunt and capture of the unicorn. The magic of these immense woven narratives, 

and the vivid accuracy of botanical and human anatomy, created a sense awe 

and wonderment that has always stayed with me to this day. In my latest 

installation, “Cry Wolf ” inspired by my experience as a youth, I have attempted 

to go beyond a historic textile sensibility, into the realm of magic, wonder, and 

theatrical splendor. 

I hope my digitally printed textile installation ignites deep spiritual forays into 

the imagination, and generates personal reflection on what is hidden, weather 

it be our own personal demons, or our lust for life.

Design Philadelphia

The largest national design celebration of its kind, DesignPhiladelphia 2009 is less than three weeks away!

The countdown is on! Clear your schedules and plan to explore the city 

through the lens of design. Join us for more than 125 exhibitions, 

lectures, open studios, workshops, book signings, and special events.

Start planning now - visit the website to check out the calendar and pick up an 

event guide at various locations throughout the city starting September 25th.

For the current program calendar, visit www.designphiladelphia.org

Students, recent graduates, and young professionals - looking for ways to get involved in the design community? Look no further, volunteer to help at DesignPhiladelphia! We're looking for volunteers - if interested please email info@designphiladelphia.org

Day of Service

On September 15th, Philadelphia University held a Day of Service.

www.philau.edu/DayofService

Classes were cancelled & students were invited to join one of many different service projects organized through the university.

The textile design department hosted two different in-house projects throughout the day.

Students worked in the knitting lab. producing dozens of red scarves. These will be donated to the Red Scarf Project, an 'initiative to warm the hearts (and necks) of college-bound foster youth'. The scarves will be sent to these students as a part of Valentine's Day care packages. 

orphan.org/index.php?id=40

Even the University President had a go on a knitting machine.

Students also worked in the screen printing lab. printing t-shirts for the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program - Finding Home Project. The Finding Home mural project is part of the Porch Light Initiative, a collaboration between the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program and the City of Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health that illuminates important struggles and offers hope for recovery. 

www.muralarts.org

Lace in Translation

If you have been on Henry Avenue recently, you may have noticed a remarkable new addition to the front lawn of The Design Center at Philadelphia University. A 170-foot “lace” chain-link fence, by the Dutch design studio Demakersvan, has been installed as part of the new exhibition Lace in Translation, opening Thursday, Sept. 24.

An opening reception will be held on Thursday, Sept. 24 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. The reception will be free and open to the campus community and the public.

For more information, visit the exhibit's official website at www.LaceInTranslation.com.

Foamex Challenges Design Students

Representatives from Foamex Innovations  visited Philadelphia University on Thursday with a unique competition for our design students.

Foamex is a local company which manufactures memory foam products. As Jennifer Frank (Textile Design, class of 1996) explained, selling memory foam is rather like selling orthopedic shoes, everyone knows its very comfortable and good for you, but wheres the fun. The students have been challenged to turn a memory foam product into a 'stiletto pump'.

Textile students will be able to team with up to three other students from any majors, to produce a story board for a new memory foam product for the bedding area.

The top five designs will win prize money and have their designs fabricated over the semester break.

The grand prize winners will have the opportunity to present their product at the ISPA (International Sleep Products Association) show in Charlotte, NC at the FXI booth in March 2010.

Further information on Foamex can be found at www.fxi.com  

Semester Kick Off Open House

The Textile Design department kicked off the 09/10 academic year with a pizza party for all our new students in our newly renovated design studio.

This year we are welcoming nearly forty new students into our group. Thirteen new graduate students, twenty new freshman and five who have transferred from other majors into Textile Design. Welcome to all our new students and we wish you all success upon your journey through our Textile Design program.

The Design Center at Philadelphia University

Students in the MS in Textile Design program greatly benefit from the Design Center located at Philadelphia University. For more information about this critical element of our design success, visit www.philau.edu/designcenter/.

Below is a brief description taken from their website:

"Design is as simple as a paper clip, as complex as a city plan, as critical as a ballot. It expresses style, inspires process, clarifies thinking. It informs, excites, provokes, delights. Design defines the way we live.

The Design Center at Philadelphia University is the rare institution solely devoted to design, showing us just how design shapes everyday life. Through its presentation of gallery exhibitions, enrichment programs, lectures and special events – such as DesignPhiladelphia – the center reflects Philadelphia University's extensive design curriculum encompassing architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, graphic design, textile design, fashion, interactive media and product design. The Center's library and collection serve as outstanding resources for scholarly research and provide inspiration to designers, artists, educators, students and aficionados."