Maine College of Art & Design announced today that Alysha Kupferer will serve as the new Chair and Assistant Professor of the Fashion & Textile Design Program. Alysha's interdisciplinary background represents a significant asset to our curriculum.
Alysha earned her MFA in Textiles from Indiana University–Bloomington and her BS in Apparel Design and Technology from Purdue University. She recently taught in the Fiber and Material Studies Department at the School of the Art Institute Chicago and was a resident artist at Water Street Studios in Batavia, Illinois, for the past two years. Alysha’s textiles-based installations and performances have been exhibited in both solo and group exhibitions. Her artistic practice investigates the relationship between consumers, products, and the economics of retail systems. In the interest of sustainability, she also researches natural dyeing methods and practices and finds and adapts traditional recipes for contemporary application.
“I could not be more excited to join the faculty at MECA&D and to lead this distinctive program that combines textiles knowledge with design for the body,” said Professor Kupferer. “As chair I aim to align the Textile & Fashion Design program with MECA&D's core principles of civic engagement and creative entrepreneurship to build a unique program with an ethical core.”
Ian Anderson, MECA&D’s Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of the College, said, “Alysha's interdisciplinary career spans fashion, textile art, sustainability, and technology. As an educator and program chair, her goal is to push education forward by combining the strengths of emerging technology with the traditions of the hand, with respect to cultures who have passed down knowledge on which our understandings are based.”
The only program of its kind in America, MECA&D’s Textile & Fashion Design major imparts a deep understanding of the design and fabrication of textiles, extensive study of the field of apparel, and exploration of creative expression through the omnipresent medium of fashion. Launched in 2013, it was made possible thanks to the generous support of Maine-based philanthropist Roxanne Quimby.
For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact Raffi Der Simonian (rdersimonian@meca.edu or 207.699.5010).