Study Abroad & Travel Courses
Bring your creative practice to places you never imagined with a semester abroad, exchange program, or travel course.
Study AbroadThe Fibers program at MassArt, within the 3D Arts Department, invites students to explore textiles, materials, structure, and surface through traditional and experimental processes. Students develop a distinct creative voice while building strong technical and conceptual skills.
Meet our Fibers faculty and program staff:
Erica Vautrinot, '24 BFA, Fibers
Picking Daisies, Natural dyes on cotton, 52" x 38", 2024
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![A person in a white cap and dark sweater stands thoughtfully in a colorful room adorned with sunny side hues and vibrant, hand-painted signsāartwork by artist Andy Liāincluding one that reads LET ME BECOME A REASONABLE FOOD.]()
On the sunny side with artist and alumnus Andy Li
Andy Li in his Cambridge studio.Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff
- Alumni in the News
- 3D Arts
- Fibers
“On a bright afternoon late last week,Ā Andy Li, BFA ’12, busied himself at his sewing machine in his Cambridge studio, prepping for the biggest show of his life. If he was sweating the pressure, he didnāt show it. As sunny as the day outside, Liās bright demeanor seemed to suggest he couldnāt if he tried. āIām a glass half full kind of guy,ā he laughed, perhaps selling himself short. Liās cup perpetually overfloweth, as Boston is soon to discover.
Li is one of three Boston-based artists to be featured at the Charlestown Navy Yard as part of theĀ Boston Public Art Triennial, a brand-new citywide affair set to launch officially on Thursday. His project is called āToday is The Day,ā and it sounds a note of perpetual optimism in trying times.”
Read the full Boston Globe article.
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From Laos to Mexico: Student Travel Courses Emphasize Craft and Sustainability
MassArt students collaborate with global artists and designers on once-in-a-lifetime travel experiences.
Embroidery workshop with Esteban Rodriguez and Virginia Alverez during the Threads of Oaxaca travel course. Photo by Jenine Shereos.
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Winter break became a classroom without walls as students explored craft, culture, and sustainability alongside artisans abroad.
Written by Rachael Dubinsky
In the northern villages of Laos, students travelled with Fashion Design Chair Jennifer Varekamp to work alongside local artisans through the social enterprise, Ma TĆ© Sai, on the preservation of craft and culture. They also explored the unique natural landscape of Laos through a boat trip along the Mekong River, a scenic bike tour of Luang Prabang, walks in the villages, and visits to Buddhist Temples and other historic sites.
Evening boat cruise in Luang Prabang on the Mekong River in Laos. Photo by Emi Weir
Natural Dying Workshop Ban Nyanyang during the travel course, Laos: A Journey Into Culture and Craft. Photo by Jenn Varekamp.
Embroidery Workshop w/ Lanten Group at Ban Phiengngam. Photo by Jenn Varekamp.
In Oaxaca, Mexico, students travelled with Fibers Program Area Chair Jenine Shereos to collaborate with a community of textile artists. The group participated in hands-on learning through studio visits, conversations, demos and workshops focusing on natural dyes, weaving, embroidery, and papermaking in the context of cultural and environmental sustainability.
Ana-Sofia Sarmiento and Francesca Santiago grind chochineal the traditional way at the natural dye workshop at BII Dauu Cooperative in Teotitlan. Photo by Jenn Varekamp.
Visit to a textile studio in Santa Maria Tlahuitoltepec during the travel course, Threads of Oaxaca .
Through MassArtās International Education Center, students have a variety of opportunities to study abroad and enroll in travel courses. By immersing themselves in new ideas, approaches, and techniques ā while exploring different geographies and culturesĀ ā students are inspired by global artists and designers on a once-in-a-lifetime travel experience.
More stories
Reimagining Elizabeth Freeman Through Illustration
MassArt students explored the life and legacy of Elizabeth Freeman through illustration, creating historically informed artwork in partnership with the Du Bois Freedom Center.
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Putting Heart into Creating: Student Spice Callahan Shares Her Story
MassArt Painting student Spice Callahan ā27 reflects on life experiences, discovering a passion for painting, and the transformative impact of scholarship support.
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Josie Natarajan, '24 BFA, Fibers
Many-Flowered Heart, woven wool and cotton, 2024
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Alumnus Emily Tirella’s Secondhand Crafts Store Featured in Boston Globe
- Alumni in the News
- Fibers
The Boston Globe recently featured MassArt alumnus Emily Tirella, who was inspired to address high cost of art materials, especially reusable ones, by starting her own secondhand crafts store, Make & Mend, in Somerville, Massachusetts.
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Andy Li handcrafts positivity, one pennant at a time
- Alumni in the News
- 3D Arts
- Fibers
Annabelle O'Reilly, '23 BFA, Fibers
Unraveling, Mixed Media, 2024
Our Fibers students learn a variety of traditional and contemporary fibers techniques in weaving, dyeing, felting and papermaking, in specialized shops and studios.
Fibers students work and learn in spacious and well-equipped weaving and fiber arts facilities that offer a wide range of technical possibilities ā a loom room, surface design room, dark room, dye lab, papermaking studio, large-scale fiber projects studiosĀ ā and in dedicated, individual studios for junior and senior majors.
MassArtās incredible Loom room is a weaving lab, equipped with thirty 45-inch 8-harness Macomber looms and two 60-inch looms for wider and more complicated weaving.
In Intro to Weaving students learn an introduction to principles and techniques of floor loom weaving.
The yarn closet off the Loom Room.
MassArt’s Dye Lab within the 3D Fine Arts department
Students learn about using natural dyes to color fabric in our Material Color course.
In an ongoing collaboration between the Papermaking and Material Color classes, students exchange handmade paper and inks created using natural pigments.
See what our student are making
A student works in her studio space.
Handmade paper samples hung up on a wall.
Obtain a minor in Fine Arts 3D with a Fibers concentration by completing 18 credits in this area of study.
The 3D Minor allows for concentrations in Ceramics, Fibers, Glass, Jewelry & Metalsmithing, or SculptureĀ through the completion of 6 courses/18 credits.
For more details on specific minor concentration requirements, please contact the Fine Arts 3D Department.
3D Arts Minor Learning Outcomes
Students who complete the 3D minor program are expected to be able to demonstrate the following learning outcomes.
Learning outcomes for the 3D minor, under the scope of the FA3D department mission, are as follows:
- Develop skill and understanding of working with materials and processes in 3D studio classes.
- Cross-disciplinary awareness, expanding to / from their primary area of study.
- Working knowledge of art, craft, and design principles.
- Introduction to contemporary topics, cross-cultural issues, and artists working in the field.
- Implement healthy working habits, self-discipline, and best practices.
- Cooperative classroom/studio experience, fostering collaboration among peers.
Program Coordinator
Heather White
Chair, Professor, 3D Arts
In an ongoing collaboration between the Papermaking and Material Color classes, students exchange handmade paper and inks created using natural pigments.
In Intro to Weaving students learn an introduction to principles and techniques of floor loom weaving.
The BFA Fibers Program offers coursework in weaving, surface design, knitting, felt-making, basketry, embroidery, paper and book making, dyeing, and fiber sculpture.
Location:Ā On Campus (Boston)
Format:Ā In-person, Full Time
Length of Program:Ā 4 years
Degree Awarded: Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fibers
The BFA Fibers program offers a diverse array of courses, with the philosophy of encouraging students to make personally meaningful connections between traditional approaches and contemporary techniques.Ā
In seminars, advanced studios, and interdisciplinary courses, students explore interdisciplinary projects, combining fibers with sculpture, performance, installation, drawing, and architecture. Issues of environmental and cultural sustainability are also at the core of our curriculum, and several of our courses are a part of the Colleges of the Fenway Sustainability Minor.
Francesca Santiago, ’25 BFA, Fibers
Healing Colors Glove Book, Batting, Silk Habotai hand dyed with natural dyes, 2023
Annabelle O’Reilly, ’23 BFA, Fibers
Unraveling, Mixed Media, 2024
Hayley Wood , ’21 BFA, Fibers
The Ogre’s Beautiful Daughter, Hand tufted, 2022
The Fibers program has evolved along with expanding deļ¬nitions of the fiber medium within the field, continuing to root our curriculum in the oldest technologies while building curricular bridges to the ways in which fiber intersects with sculpture, design, performance, sustainability, and social practice.
Students are encouraged to integrate and apply their classroom learning via internships, teaching assistantships within the Fiber and Studio Foundation areas, and collaborative opportunities with area museums such as the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston.
BFA Learning Outcomes
Students who complete the Fiber BFA program are expected to be able to demonstrate the following learning outcomes.
- Develop skill and an understanding of the importance of craftsmanship
- Understand a wide range of approaches and methodologies to problem solving
- Develop good working habits & self discipline
- Develop cross disciplinary awareness
- Develop an understanding of conceptual, symbolic and metaphoric issues
- Develop an awareness of historical, contemporary, cross-cultural issues and artists working in their field
- Encourage their personal vision and imaginations to become a tangible reality
- Develop a working knowledge of design principles
- Develop a sense of being an artist using life and studio experience to support their ideas
- Cooperative classroom experience
- Foster collaboration among peers
- Establish relationships/ work with community
- Safety: tools, equipment, materials, processes
- To assume the responsibility of the development of their own professional career in whatever direction it may take
- Participate in critical dialogue with peers in their field
- Develop professional and vocational resources
- Sustainability
Program Chair, 3D Arts
Heather White
Chair, Professor, 3D Arts
Email: hwhite@massart.edu
Call: (617) 879-7492
Alumni Success
Graduates of the Fibers program have gone on to pursue careers in textile design, textile conservation, art education, fine art, curatorial work, and entrepreneurial ventures.
1 min 52 sec
Erin Robertson, ’16 BFA Fashion & Fibers, never envisioned herself at art school, but when she discovered MassArt, she knew she had to enroll. Shortly after graduation, Erin went on to win Project Runway Season 15 and open her own studio and shop in Boston.
Video directed by Dillon Buss ’12 BFA Film/Video, edited by Jack LeMay, produced by Vagrants.
Course Spotlight: Papermaking
Our Paper Making course is an introduction to traditional and experimental methods of hand papermaking, with an emphasis on papermaking as an expressive art medium.
Fibers faculty member Deborah Klotz works with a student in her Paper Making class.
Students learn Papermaking in Collins 310 with Fibers Faculty member Deborah Klotz.
