Design Research Fellowship

The Center for Design and Material Culture’s new Design Research Fellowship program is an exciting opportunity for UW faculty members to engage in substantial projects with the center team, particularly around classes, exhibitions, and programs connected to design research. Below are examples of past projects that were a part of the former faculty-in-residence program.

To learn more about this dynamic fellowship opportunity, please contact the Executive Director of the CDMC.

Professor Jennifer Angus (2022-2024)

Professor Jennifer Angus worked closely with the center during the 2022-2024 academic years on a number of projects as the Kay Vaughn Innovation Fellow. In spring 2022 through her Design Studies course DS 527: Global Artisans and in partnership with the Division of the Arts and the Design Studies Department, Jenny helped host visiting curator Judy Frater. This collaboration resulted in the exhibition Coming Together: Culturally Inspired Creations in the Lynn Mecklenburg Textile Gallery with co-designed pieces inspired by objects from the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection.

In the spring of 2023 Prof. Angus began working with the center on the Feel the Beat: Felted Textiles exhibition. This included a collaboration with installation artist Janice Arnold for a large-scale installation in the main lobby of Nancy Nicholas Hall titled, Woolen Clouds. In the fall of 2024 in the Lynn Mecklenburg Textile Gallery, the Feel the Beat exhibition opened, co-curated by students in the DS527: Global Artisans course and in collaboration with makers from the Association of Craft Producers (ACP) in Kathmandu, Nepal, and Unay Muchiku in Iluman, Ecuador.

Coming Together Exhibition Archive

Feel the Beat Exhibition Archive

image with four different textiles around the edge with black and pink text in the middle with the title of the exhibition

Art gallery with bright yellow textiles hanging on the wall and in a pedestal

Art gallery with white walls and textiles hanging in front of them

Art gallery with white walls and three textiles hanging in front on them

Art gallery with a large, white intro wall with text on it

Detail of a colorful textile on a pedestal in an art gallery

Textile displays in cases, including hats, vessels, and wall hangings.

Display case featuring a variety of colorful felt hats

Textile exhibit with a video screen playing, informational panels, wall-mounted textile art, and a display case with hats.

Display case with textile art, including a coat, felted objects, and a hat.

Display of textile art featuring felted hats, a colorful tapestry, informational panels, and a blue felt garment

Display case filled with an assortment of colorful felted animals and objects, including a donkey, a giraffe, a poodle, a frog, a crocodile, and patterned spheres.

Wall display of textile art including a framed abstract piece, a colorful felt panel, woven samples, a draped garment, and a diamond-patterned textile.

Two display cases, one containing folded textiles and the other with colorful yarn orbs.

Felted bird, curd bowl design, and a bowl of felted fruit displayed on white shelves

Black coat with ornate gold trim and buttons, displayed flat, with exhibition text visible.

White felt hat with a colorful embroidered flower and bird design.

Professor Wei Dong (2019-2020)

Our first Faculty-in-Residence was Professor Wei Dong in Design Studies as part of the Audrey Rothermel Bascon Professorship. As a part of his residency, Prof. Dong curated Harmony and Evolution: An Exhibition of the Chinese American Art Faculty Association in the Ruth Davis Design Gallery. Prof. Dong also worked on developing related programming around making, wellness, and mindfulness in collaboration with the center for the 2020-2021 school year.

Harmony and Evolution Exhibition Archive