Stepping into Pepe Hall was like stepping into another world, as I was immediately greeted with the splendor of work the fibers students had created. It truly was a spectacular sight.
What took me most by surprise was the amount of interactive opportunities for everyone in attendance. You could spend hours admiring student ideations and sketchbooks or flipping through fabric swatches. It reminded me of experiencing a children’s museum, where everything is made to interact and connect with. I personally had to hold myself back from trying to touch everything I could. The demos were exciting and included dyeing fabrics, screen printing, machine knitting, and so much more. It felt like that one night, Pepe Hall opened its doors and welcomed everyone into life as a fibers student.
The most remarkable thing about Fibers Open Studio was obviously the student work. Everywhere you looked you would find an artist’s story or creative idea translated through weaving, embroidery, or 3D printing. I noticed that some artists are problem solvers and thought of making fabrics to protect from the sun or calming wallpapers for classrooms. Other artists had emotional stories behind their work, like a student who made tiles representing their childhood kitchen. No matter where you looked you would see a glimpse into who the artists were and how dedicated they are to their craft, whether it was the work of an intro class or a graduate student.
The variety of work that Fibers students have produced was such an inspiration and really opened my eyes to the world of fibers. I can bet that almost everyone who walked out of Pepe Hall that night left with one question on their mind: Should I become a Fibers major?
Words by Isabel Mejias.
Photos by Annie Cater.