The fiber department at KCAI combines traditional and experimental practices to provide students with technical and conceptual training. You will have opportunities to explore contemporary issues in art and design within the context of a working studio environment. In addition to core courses in fiber, the KCAI fiber curriculum offers courses in Jacquard weaving, costume design, textile design and fashion knitwear.
Fiber as a medium crosses boundaries and interfaces with art, design, craft and technology. Inherently multi-disciplinary, the field of fiber encompasses painting, printing, dyeing, pattern design, sewing, experimental fashion and costume design, weaving, knitting, crochet, basketry techniques, felting, spinning and papermaking.
Emphasis in this medium is on skill development and the generation of ideas through a materials-based process of making. Interest in greener, more sustainable practices and recent technological advances expand the field to include such areas as architectural textiles, interactive textiles, electronic textiles and smart textiles.