Those Who Can Teach

Suzanne Tick inspires the next generation of textile designers with her master of fine arts course at Rhode Island School of Design.

Mark McMenamin -- Interior Design, 7/17/2007 12:00:00 AM

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Suzanne Tick went back to school this year, and not because she was a few credits shy of a degree. The prolific designer, who just earned a Best of NeoCon Gold award for her Bas Relief woven broadloom collection for Tandus, went back in order to give back.

Tick just completed a stint as guest lecturer at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, where she taught The Duality of Materials and New Materials, a graduate course for the master of fine arts in textiles program at the Department of Textiles.

"The class was made up of both fashion and interior textile weavers and knitters," says Tick. "The purpose of the class was for the students to conceive, from fiber to finish, a product and concept to enter the marketplace. The net results were truly spectacular." Students were guided to develop a brand using products that emphasize sustainability, while garnering "the essence of tomorrow's evolving trends."

To cap off the course, Tick hosted the students at her New York studio for a career night, where representatives from fabric mills and the press were invited to give the once-over to the final projects. Among these were Hyun Kyung Lee's lamp of woven plastic yarns, Nanhee Kim's assortment of knitted and woven fabrics, Sonya Marshall's indoor/outdoor fabric, and Aurora Harrington's knit dress and wool coat. To view examples of these and other student works, click above to start the slide show.