Wearable Art Movement that Started at Pratt
September 20,2022
The Art to Wear movement was sparked in the late 1960s by a group of Pratt students teaching each other to crochet. They came from different disciplines, including Jean Williams Cacicedo, BFA Fine Arts ‘70; Marika Contompasis, BID ‘69; Sharron Hedges, BFA Art Education ‘70; Dina Knapp, Graphic Art and Design ‘70; and Janet Lipkin, BFA Fine Arts ‘70. Together, they fostered a shared passion for using textiles in art that was also fashion. In November 2019, the Philadelphia Museum of Art opened Off the Wall: American Art to Wear to recognize this American art movement. In a Craft in America: Storytellers episode on PBS, gallerist and collector Julie Schafler Dale discussed their influential work. Watch on Craft in America and YouTube.
“We were mentors and peers to each other. As one of us discovered a new concept, it inspired each of us to grow and develop our own styles.”Janet Lipkin, BFA Fine Arts ‘70, in an interview with Pratt.edu