Throughout the pandemic many people turned to sewing for the first time—or for the first time in many years—to create masks for their communities. In the third episode of “Refrangible,” Gianofer Fields introduces us to an old friend who helped her in this endeavor: her mother’s sewing machine.
Recent News
CDMC Producers Win Awards from Wisconsin Broadcasters Association
Radio Chipstone episode from Producer-in-Residence Gianofer Fields honored with Best Feature Bronze Medal, and three pieces by Jonah Chester won awards.
Refrangible Episode Two: A Maypole to Mark the Next Stage of Our Pandemic Realities
As the U.S. slowly reopens thanks to rising vaccination rates and declining COVID-19 infections, the traditional maypole celebration of springtime seems to be an especially apt way to transition out of a pandemic winter. The second episode of the CDMC’s new podcast, Refrangible, contemplates what this ritual may mean today.
Refrangible Episode One: “Home Front” Efforts Between WWII and COVID-19 Crises
The new podcast from the Center for Design and Material Culture begins with a focus on WWII-era food planning booklets to examine how people behave, act, and contribute in response to top-down guidance during times of struggle and strife.
Student Spotlight: Noah Mapes, 2020 Chipstone-CDMC Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow
Art History and Material Culture student Noah Mapes talks about his experiences during last year’s fellowship, student researcher communities during a pandemic, and his contributions to the project “A Colonial Merchant: The Ledger of William Ramsay.”
CDMC Launches New Podcast, “Refrangible,” Exploring the Stories Behind Everyday Objects
From home front efforts during World War II to the statements we make with our COVID masks, the first season of a new podcast from the Center for Design and Material Culture examines a broad range of topics through the prismatic lens of material culture.
Dr. Sophie Pitman to Join SoHE as CDMC’s Pleasant Rowland Textile Specialist and Research Director
A cultural historian of the early modern period, Dr. Pitman will advance scholarly and educational connections with the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection in the Center for Design and Material Culture.