Join INTERFORM and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art for a one-day only event featuring fashion designers from the EMERGE Designer Residency program alongside curators and scholars as they discuss social and environmental issues related to fashion and its connections to arts and culture.
Dr. Lisa Corrigan
University of Arkansas, Director of Gender Studies
Changing Assumptions on Color’s Relationship to Gender
Dr. Lisa M. Corrigan is a Professor of Communication, Director of the Gender Studies Program at the University of Arkansas. Her first book, Prison Power: How Prison Influenced the Movement for Black Liberation (2016: University Press of Mississippi), won the 2017 Diamond Anniversary Book Award and the 2017 African American Communication and Culture Division Outstanding Book Award, both from the National Communication Association. Her book, Black Feelings: Race and Affect in the Long Sixties (2020: University Press of Mississippi) was the Honorable Mention for the Marie Hochmuth Nichols Book Prize in Public Address Scholarship. Her newest edited volumed, #MeToo: A Rhetorical Zeitgeist (Routledge, 2021) examines the #MeToo moment as a crucible for political conversations about consent and violence. Finally, she co-hosts the popular podcast, Lean Back: Critical Feminist Conversations, with Laura Weiderhaft, and she has worked as a political consultant for over 25 years.
Xuxa Rodriguez
Crystal Bridges, Assistant Curator, Contemporary Art
Moderator
Xuxa Rodríguez (she/her/ella) is Assistant Curator, Contemporary Art at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. A critical race and intersectional feminist art historian, Rodríguez is responsible for modern and contemporary American art spanning the areas of Latinx and Latin American art, African diasporic art, feminist and queer art, time-based media, and transnational artists. She joined Crystal Bridges in spring of 2020.Her research and scholarship have been supported by fellowships from Luce / the American Council of Learned Societies, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the U.S. Department of Education’s Foreign Language and Area Studies Program, and the Graduate College at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. An alumna of the Center for Curatorial Leadership / Mellon Foundation Seminar and the Smithsonian Latino Center’s Museum Studies Program, she has held fellowships, internships, and positions at Figure One Exhibition Lab Space, Frost Art Museum, Krannert Art Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and Spurlock Museum.
Joyce Modglin
Business Owner, Designer
The Influence of Costume Design on Fashion
Joyce Modglin is currently the owner of One Eyed Jacks Cigar Lounge in Bentonville. Among her many talents and passions are garment design, construction and creating costumes. She attended the Los Angeles Trade Technical College studying Fashion Design and Merchandising. In concert to completing her education she landed a job in the garment industry. She gained vast experience and knowledge working very long hours per week. She sourced fabrics and art prints to make cohesive garments in her line, all while becoming more confident in the manufacturing process. After time she became a key vender for Walmart and hundreds of other large accounts. She remained freelancing in the costume world and bridal, all included design, pattern making, stitching and fitting of each garment. She was then hired as a costume designer, creating costumes and accessories for the Disney Store chain and catalog, and many other Disney properties, I.e., Disneyland, Disney World, etc., shipping hundreds of thousands of units. Joyce then was offered a job as a Body Armour designer, filling the needs of law enforcement and military worldwide with each individual being unique. Joyce and her family relocated to NW Arkansas, where she accepted a job with Outdoor Cap, headwear manufacturer. Over time she became the Trend Director, scouring all available avenues to determine what fads, trends, styles or needs could be filled by headwear. Joyce still keeps involved with costumes by working seasonally for the Walton Arts Center and the AMP as a Designer Craftsman. Joyce now focuses her efforts at her cigar lounge with her husband/partner growing retail sales and maintaining their clientele in NW Arkansas.
Stace Treat
Crystal Bridges, Head of Interpretation in the Exhibitions Department
Moderator
Treat serves as Head of Interpretation in the Exhibitions department at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. In this role, Stace works closely with curators and educators to produce engaging experiences for museum visitors through multiple channels, including text, multimedia, digital, and other interactive tools. He primarily focuses on making the guest experience with the artworks engaging, interesting and fun, with a mind to welcoming all and offering approachable and accessible experiences for all guests. One could say Stace is an in-gallery experience designer. He is in his seventh year at Crystal Bridges.Stace worked closely with curators and educators in several collection installation projects, including the return of the Alfred Stieglitz Collection in 2017, the re-imagining of our Early American Art Collection galleries that opened in the spring of 2018, and collection updates and highlights in our Contemporary galleries in 2019 and 2020 which included Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room – My Heart is Dancing Into the Universe. In 2005, Stace completed a critically acclaimed documentary film titled Sphere of Influence, which charted the two-year creation of a large public sculpture by artist Hank Kaminsky, located on the historic downtown square in Fayetteville, Arkansas. An avid lover of all the arts, and particularly film, fine arts, and performance of all kinds, Stace also enjoys reading, cooking, photography, and travel.
Stephanie Hubert
University of Arkansas, Apparel Merchandising & Product Development Instructor
Religious Architecture as Fashion Inspiration
Stephanie Hubert is an apparel merchandising and product development instructor in the School of Human Environmental Sciences at the University of Arkansas. She is a recipient of the University of Arkansas Honors College Distinguished Faculty Award and the Bumpers College Outstanding Honors Faculty Mentor Award. She mentors student research in the areas of 3D printing, sustainability, and the application of other technology in the fashion industry. Students under her direction received awards at the International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference in St. Petersburg, FL. Under Hubert’s direction, students designed and produced a 3D printed crop top, from Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), on the University of Arkansas’s 3D printers. Their design walked in the Annual AMPD Enclothe fashion show and was featured in Discovery Magazine. In addition to helping students pursue interests in 3D design and innovative apparel, Ms. Hubert teaches pattern drafting and computer aided (CAD) pattern drafting of apparel. One of her many contributions to the University, the Annual AMPD Enclothe fashion show, features collaboration with other departments across campus, including Electrical Engineering, Horticulture, and Agricultural Education, Communication and Technology. Garments designed in Hubert’s class included research on topics such as diversity in fashion, sustainability, and fashion as fiber art.
Basana Chhetri
INTERFORM, Senior Director of Fashion Design & Apparel Education
Diverse Cultures and Their Influence on American Fashion
Basana Chhetri is a Nepalese-American designer from Arkansas. Born and raised in Nepal and educated and trained in Nepal, Japan and England, Basana Chhetri is a costume designer and & artist by profession. After completing her fashion design education in Kyoto, Japan, she returned back to her native country Nepal and started multiple businesses and boutiques along with the first Fashion School in Nepal, called “Contemporary Institute of Arts and Fashion”. Over the span of 20+ years she has contributed towards the Govt. of Nepal’s fashion design curriculum, showcased her designs in various fashion shows, been a panel judge for Miss Nepal, managed a business that produced and marketed designer pashmina products in Japan, been an educator and advisor to fashion institutions in Nepal and the founder and main designer for a boutique in London. She has also showcased her creative work in fine arts with paintings on stretched canvases, plain silk and wearable fabrics while creating a fusion of traditional art-work and apparel design. Her solo exhibitions were held in Tokyo, New York and the Walton Art gallery in Fayetteville Arkansas. She has also presented her work in NWA Fashion week for two seasons. Previously, Basana has worked with Arkansas Arts and Fashion Forum in teaching sewing & stitching classes focused on Marshallese students to empower women in the local community. Basana is quintilingual with an extensive cross cultural upbringing and exposure that shapes her creative expressions.
Lyna Ninkham
Canopy, Employment Specialist
Diverse Cultures and Their Influence on American Fashion
Lyna joined Canopy 3.5 years ago as the Employment Specialist. Today, she serves as Canopy’s Employment Services Manager. Lyna holds a BS in International Business from the University of Arkansas. She has over 7 years of experience in program and project management as well as Economic Development for underserved communities. Before joining Canopy, Lyna lived and worked in Thailand for 4 years in social entrepreneurship. She is the proud daughter of a refugee and immigrant family here in the U.S.
Sonia Spinx
Walmart, Merchandise Operations Sr. Director for Beauty
Conventional Standard of Beauty in the Fashion and Cosmetics Industry
Sonia started at Sam’s Club in 2008 as the program lead for the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology initiative. This resulted in the first ever proof of concept for a point of sale checkout in less than 30 seconds. In 2010, Sonia transitioned to Merchandise Transformation Strategic Planning and Systems Development to build systems and processes for assortment, replenishment and PO management. In 2011 she was promoted to Operations Innovations Supply Chain Strategy Manager focused on in-club stocking and receiving processes. Sonia then moved into the core merchandising organization in 2014 as the Planning and Allocation Director for Home, Tire Battery Center, Planning and Allocation Director for Seasonal in 2017 and Merchandise Strategy Sr. Director for Home, Apparel, Seasonal, TBC, Jewelry in 2018 and in 2019 moved to Walmart US as the Merchandise Operations Sr. Director for Beauty. Leadership Development includes being a co-chair on the Women’s Resource Council and a co-lead for the Walmart Career Moms. Graduate of the Leadership Academy Program. Successfully completed GAP Partnership Negotiations Training – The Complete Skilled Negotiator, and now participates in the ASCENT Program and led a Mentoring Lean-In Circle. Sonia is an Arkansas native and loves being a wife to Darryl and mother to Daniel, Cori and Drew. She’s also a writer, social content contributor, a Big Sister with the Big Brothers and Big Sisters program of Northwest Arkansas, active in her local graduate chapter of her sorority, and youth sports coach.
Laura Pratt
Crystal Bridges
Conventional Standard of Beauty in the Fashion and Cosmetics Industry
Laura has considerable expertise in the space of body positivity/body inclusivity/fat fashion and is deeply informed about the issues in the field. She has spoken at a few conferences on the subject (primarily on “acceptable” forms of presentation as a fat woman) and is published here and in the Fat Studies Journal.
Abby Hollis
Apparel Designer & Sustainability Consultant
Fashion and Sustainability…Can the two truly co-exist?
Abby Hollis is an apparel designer and sustainability consultant working with Arkansas-based startup brands on their journeys toward ethical production. She has studied textile systems in Northwest Arkansas, Coastal Georgia, Hong Kong, Northern India, and south-central Peru, building cultural literacy and an understanding of the global impact of art and design. Passionate about building systems that serve both their makers and their consumers, she advocates for educational storytelling to change not only the way objects are made but the way they are thought about and interacted with. Hollis graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Savannah College of Art and Design with a BFA in Fibers and Design for Sustainability. Hollis has been featured in the CFDA Fashion Future Showcase, the Interface Uplifted by Design Exhibition, 2020 Sustainable Fashion Week, Dynamo VC’s Future of Supply Chain Podcast, LIVSN Pipeline, SCAD Medium, SCAD Manor, the Seeking Sustainability podcast, the EF Education First blog, and others. She currently volunteers as a member of the Fayetteville Arts Council and as the Project Manager of Strategic Partnerships for Fashion Revolution USA. Hollis recently co-founded Ozark Fibershed, an organization working to develop a thriving regional fiber system in the Ozarks.
Dr. Lance Cheramie
University of Arkansas, Apparel Merchandising & Product Development (AMPD) Program
Fashion and Sustainability…Can the two truly co-exist?
Dr Lance Cheramie teaches in the University of Arkansas’s Apparel Merchandising and Product Development (AMPD) program. He also serves as the AMPD Internship Coordinator and advisor to the student-run Fashion and Apparel Board. Cheramie instructs students in retail buying and promotion, merchandising math, and sourcing and sustainability in the apparel supply chain. His research focuses on Corporate Social Responsibility, sustainability, and technology in the garment and textile sectors. Dr Cheramie has a doctorate in public policy with a focus on sustainability, and he works with students to address environmental problems in the apparel & textile supply chain. Additionally, he is a Climate Reality Leader, Net Impact Global Campaign Leader, and a Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Certified Sustainability Professional. He has presented at several International Textile and Apparel Association conferences in sustainability and has participated in the Ellen MacArthur Foundation Circularity Program.