TEACHING
TEENS:
Instructing and developing a course on sustainable fashion consumption and production for pre-college students.Overview:
The Summer Arts Clinic is a week-long residency program for pre-college students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The course “Streetwear and Sustainable Style” has been a popular draw for participants, reaching full capacity each year since the program’s start.
Project Specs:
Timeline ~3 years (seasonal)
Format In Person Instruction
Platform Google Suite, MyUW
Summary:
In 2023, the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Continuing Studies began an effort to build upon it’s already renowned Summer Music Clinic to include a week of programming dedicated to Visual Arts. As a selected member of the inaugural staff, my co-instructor Ian Vailliencourt and I have been asked back each year to continue developing and instructing our course.
“Streetwear and Sustainable Style” is a week-long program targeted toward pre-college students (grades 9-12) with a range of sewing experience. Our course includes three sections:
[1] Fashion Theory, [2] Textile and Apparel Demos and [3] Inter-personal Collaboration. Each day builds upon the last, leading students through the entire design process from concept generation, to sewing and debuting a final look, all-the-while incorporating collaboration and review at each stage.
Each year, I make an effort to secure corporate sponsorship for our class. Past sponsors, including Fiskars Group have generously donated sewing equiptment and supplies for our students at no cost, assuring that each individual can continue their creative process after the program.
Photos courtesy of Keegan Gering.
Learn more about the Summer Arts Clinic and our course here.