Laurie Brewer

Laurie Anne Brewer is an associate curator in the Department of Costume and Textiles at the RISD Museum, where she recently presented The Art and Design of Spider Silk (2019) and Beauty at Her Fingertips: Chinese Sleeve Bands from the Aldrich Collection (2017). Previous exhibitions at the museum include Luminous Lace: Metallic Trims 1500-Now (2016), Golden Glamour: The Edith Stuyvesant Gerry Collection (2015), Indische Style: Batiks for the International Market (2015), Artist/Rebel/Dandy: Men of Fashion (2013, with Kate Irvin) and Queen of the Insects: The Art of the Butterfly (2009–10). Brewer’s forthcoming exhibition Selkie/Sedna: Circumpolar Fashions (working title) explores the story of the sea goddess and the applications of sealskin in Inuit and global dress.

Brewer also serves as a lecturer in the Theory and History of Art and Design department and in the Apparel Design department. Prior to her post at RISD she worked in the Textiles department at the Museum at Fashion Institute of Technology. She was awarded her MA in Museum Studies: Costume and Textiles from State University of New York, Fashion Institute of Technology and her BA in Human Ecology from the College of the Atlantic. Her research often explores the intersections of nature and art, focusing on the ecology of fashion from the 19th century to the present day. In addition to her curatorial and teaching practices, she is an avid hand spinner, knitter and papermaker.