Laurie Brewer

Curator, Costume & Textiles
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Laurie Brewer
BA, College of Atlantic
MA, Fashion Institute of Technology
Certificate of Hand Papermaking, Haystack Mountain School of Craft

Laurie Anne Brewer is a curator of costume and textiles at the RISD Museum. Her recent exhibitions and research projects include the NEH-funded From Kyoto to Providence: Preserving the RISD Museum’s Lucy Truman Aldrich Collection of Asian Textile Masterworks (2020-21) and The Art and Design of Spider Silk (2019). 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). At RISD, Laurie also serves as a lecturer in the departments of Apparel Design and Theory and History of Art and Design, teaching such courses as The Uses of Animals in Relation to the Industry of Man: Design and Nature, 1851 and Now, Global Fashion and Baa Ram Ewe: Fiber Tales and Pathways. Prior to RISD she worked in the department of textiles at the Museum at Fashion Institute of Technology. She holds a BA in human ecology from the College of the Atlantic and an MA in museum studies: costume and textile history from the Fashion Institute of Technology. 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.

Courses

Fall 2023 Courses

THAD H656-01 - A GLOBAL HISTORY OF TEXTILES: TRADES, TRADITIONS, TECHNIQUES
Level Undergraduate
Unit Textiles
Subject Theory & History of Art & Design
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Lecture
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

THAD H656-01

A GLOBAL HISTORY OF TEXTILES: TRADES, TRADITIONS, TECHNIQUES

Level Undergraduate
Unit Textiles
Subject Theory & History of Art & Design
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Lecture
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2023-09-06 to 2023-12-13
Times: T | 9:40 AM - 12:40 PM Instructor(s): Kate Irvin, Laurie Brewer Location(s): College Building, Room 331 Enrolled / Capacity: 12 Status: Closed

SECTION DESCRIPTION

Interdisciplinary by their very nature, textile traditions share a global history. Around the world textiles have found place in cultures as signifiers of social identity, from the utilitarian to the sacred, as objects of ritual meaning and as objects of great tangible wealth. The evolution of textile motifs, designs, materials and technology from around the globe will be explored in classroom lecture and utilizing the RISD Museum of Art. We will examine such topics as: the function of textiles in the survival of traditional cultures, the impact of historic trade routes and ensuing colonialism, industrialization and its subsequent effect on traditional techniques of textile manufacture. Thoughtful and scholarly consideration will be given to recent incidents of cultural appropriation in the global textile and fashion industry. Term projects utilizing the material culture approach will afford students the opportunity to gain valuable research skills and explore in-depth specific textile techniques.


Open to Sophomore, Junior, Senior or Graduate Students. Textiles Students can be pre-registered by the department.

Elective

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Laurie Brewer
BA, College of Atlantic
MA, Fashion Institute of Technology
Certificate of Hand Papermaking, Haystack Mountain School of Craft