UW Design Gallery opens virtual space

“Design 2012: First Annual Student Virtual Exhibition” will be shown from 1-1:30 p.m. Friday, May 4, before “Escape,” the Textile and Apparel Student Association runway fashion show, and again at 8 p.m. after the show, at the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Union South, Varsity Hall, 1308 W. Dayton St.

The exhibit will continue online at http://www.designgallery.wisc.edu.

Design Studies Department’s annual juried exhibition has been a department tradition since 1992. Throughout this academic year, students in textile, apparel and interior design studio classes reserve their best projects for this exhibition which typically includes a broad range of work from weaving samples, garments, color studies, sculpture and architectural models to computer-aided-design images and digital projections.

“We have been hoping to create an online version for several years now, and this year we finally make that a reality,” says professor Mark Nelson, faculty director, Center for Integrative Design. “In the future, we hope to have both a physical gallery show and a virtual show. This is a great opportunity for the UW Design students attending Fashion Institute of Technology in New York or on other off-campus sites to submit their work.”

This year’s jurors are Mary D’Alton and Eric Ferguson, a stylist/photographer team.

D’Alton’s background is in clothing design while Ferguson specializes in photographing products, art and design. Together, they own and operate the White School Studio and the table top and fine wine store Convivio in Spring Green, Wis.

Also serving as a juror is Ashley Phelps Wagner who has 11 years of interior design experience in hospitality, educational, corporate/commercial and healthcare markets. She is a National Council for Interior Design Qualification certificate holder and a Wisconsin registered interior designer. Wagner has served on the board of directors for the International Interior Design Association Wisconsin chapter for four years and currently serves as IIDA Wisconsin Chapter VP of communications.

Award winners on view include Xiaotong Zhao, Kung-Wei Chen, Olivia Zabel, Kaley Sundby, Ericka Napp, Ali Tackett, Kurt Schmidt and Jenny Moehring.

The Design Gallery holds exhibitions that relate to the processes and results of design. Exhibition programming supports the Textile and Apparel Design program and Interior Design program of the Department of Design Studies at UW’s School of Human Ecology. A new Design Gallery in the newly constructed Nancy Nicholas Hall will open in September. During construction, the gallery has used area venues to continue its mission.