This past October, MICA Professor Piper Shepard and her Pattern & Digital Print/Textile students hosted Mrs. Hucker’s 9th grade BDS students in the MICA Fiber department.

The Textile Unit workshop and introduction to the Digital Textile printer was an incredible and informative opportunity for BDS students to gain real world experience from community designers.

Back at BDS, in their Foundation of Technology class, the 9th grade students designed their own hand drawn textile designs, inspired by another MICA Fibers department faculty and BDS board member, Annet Couwenberg. Students went to the Baltimore Museum of Art to see Annet’s show, From Digital to Demask, and to hear her speak about her process and her work.

Inspired by Annet, students utilized the design thinking process and completed their own research, went through different rounds of brainstorming and prototyping, pitched their designs to MICA students and made revisions based on the feedback by their MICA critics.

Six of the 9th grade students will have the opportunity to print their final textile designs at MICA on the Digital Textile printer. Stay tuned for the finished work!