Renewed Ready-to-Wear

with Gurtie Hansell 

Tuesday–Friday, August 20–23, 2:00 p.m–5:00 p.m.

Tuition: $220

Four-day workshops do not include lunch. A four-day lunch plan is available for an additional $75. Please select this option when registering if you wish to join us for lunch each day at 1 p.m.

What we wear shows the world so much of who we are. For many, fashion acts as ornamentation, or even armor. Unfortunately, the fashion industry – and fast fashion in particular – is destroying Mother Earth. The clothing and materials we need to adorn ourselves already exist in the world. With a little creativity we can reinvent and revitalize our looks (and a bit of ourselves). We will explore ways of sourcing “upcycled” and “deadstock” materials. We will hold our own clothing swap to pool materials for creating and renewing eco-friendly wearables, then enhance those found garments with inks, dyes, stitches, and appliques – learning new painting, sewing, and printmaking techniques along the way. The experience will culminate in a fashion show collectively produced by the group on the final day. Materials and tools to alter your garments will be provided. Let’s frolic!

Gurtie Hansell is a multimedia artist, teacher, and entrepreneur working out of their home studio and backyard in Chicago. They draw on fashion, printmaking (and print-breaking), as well as graphic design to outfit their community for pageantry, protest, and pleasure. Their wearables are deeply inspired by decades in queer nightlife, camp craft, and generally being loud in public. Gurtie owns a gender-expansive streetwear brand called Kangmankey which they've run since 2015, and they also co-operate a production and costume design company called MotherTwin. This is their 4th year teaching "Renewed Ready to Wear" at Oxbow's Art on the Meadow.

Nnamdi jumpsuit designed by MotherTwin. Images courtesy of the artist.