Melissa Leandro

This advanced course investigates stitching as a critical and material practice for transforming the surface, structure, and meaning of textiles and other pliable substrates. Students pursue a strong personal direction while developing technical vocabulary alongside conceptual concerns, moving across hand stitching, embroidery, needlework, beading, free motion sewing, hand and machine quilting on long arm machines, digital embroidery design and output, and fabric dyeing or dispersion methods. The course explores gesture, line, speed, slowness, process, and materiality, with emphasis on surface manipulation, scale, and the relationship between material knowledge and conceptual meaning.
Emphasis is placed on independent, self-directed studio work, using technical processes as tools for inquiry rather than ends in themselves. Lectures, visiting artist talks, field trips, equipment tutorials, and readings situate student work within broader discourses around labor, domesticity, identity, materiality, and the politics of craft. Group critiques, peer reviews, and one-on-one faculty advising support individual goals while fostering dialogue about contemporary issues in the field. Coursework includes critiqued projects, technical samples, and reading responses.

This course provides an interdisciplinary forum for in-depth critiques and exploration of students' individual directions within the context of contemporary art. This is a team-taught class and will utilize both instructors for critiques and group activities. Emphasis is on individual studio practice and the development of a more cohesive body of work within a faculty mentorship and peer-to-peer learning structure. Technical and conceptual input will be provided on a tutorial basis. Group discussions, readings, field trips to current exhibitions, and visiting lecturers augment this class. Professional practices will focus on the creation and display of discrete objects and/or installation work for the BFA Exhibition, supported by developing or refining a professional resume and an artist statement. Documentation of individual work for inclusion on the Fiber & Material Studies web page is also required. The print, dye, sewing, and mixed media facilities of the department are available to enrolled students to use. This class is for a minimum of 6 credit hours and is held weekly over a two-day period on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Open to Juniors and Seniors with instructor permission and signature. Course work varies but typically includes the production of major studio projects for critique, student presentations, professional development assignments, documentation of work, and the installation of work in the class display case and an open studio event.

This course provides an interdisciplinary forum for in-depth critiques and exploration of students' individual directions within the context of contemporary art. This is a team-taught class and will utilize both instructors for critiques and group activities. Emphasis is on individual studio practice and the development of a more cohesive body of work within a faculty mentorship and peer-to-peer learning structure. Technical and conceptual input will be provided on a tutorial basis. Group discussions, readings, field trips to current exhibitions, and visiting lecturers augment this class. Professional practices will focus on the creation and display of discrete objects and/or installation work for the BFA Exhibition, supported by developing or refining a professional resume and an artist statement. Documentation of individual work for inclusion on the Fiber & Material Studies web page is also required. The print, dye, sewing, and mixed media facilities of the department are available to enrolled students to use. This class is for a minimum of 6 credit hours and is held weekly over a two-day period on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Open to Juniors and Seniors with instructor permission and signature.

Course work varies but typically includes the production of major studio projects for critique, student presentations, professional development assignments, documentation of work, and the installation of work in the class display case and an open studio event.