December 3, 2015
Haar receives three awards at international textile conference
Sherry Haar, professor in the apparel, textiles and interior design department in the College of Human Ecology, has received three international awards for her research and design scholarship in natural dye, including a design created from dye plants from her garden.
Haar was recognized at the recent annual conference and design exhibition of the International Textile and Apparel Association in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with the following honors:
• Hutton Award for Continuing Fiber Traditions Research for her scholarship presentation "Plant Placement: Imagery from Plant Chlorophyll and Mechanical Methods."
• Educators for Socially Responsible Apparel Practices Award for Sustainable Design for her original textile and apparel design called "Summer Harvest."
• ATEXINC Award for Excellence in Marketable Textile Design for "Summer Harvest."
Haar explores low-tech methods of creating color, image and pattern with regional plants on textiles, as well as analyzing treatments to improve colorfastness. Her award-winning presentation at the International Textile and Apparel Association conference showcased research of creating imagery through plant pounding; that is, hammering the plant pigment onto fiber.
"Summer Harvest" featured the method of bundling plant species from Haar's garden and using steam to extract the color.
The purpose of the International Textile and Apparel Association design exhibition is to provide an arena for design scholarship to be recognized by a jury of peers for contribution to the field of textile and/or apparel design and to provide a venue for sharing the contribution. Submissions are juried for acceptance into the exhibition with a 30 percent acceptance rate and then are reviewed by a panel of judges for awards.