Beginning-level classes are recommended for all entering students. Faculty assist in determining a sequence and selection of courses suited to individual concerns. To augment this course of study, the textile and costume history classes through the art history department are specifically recommended. In addition to the classes within the fiber and material studies department, students are advised to experience other areas of the School. Connections and crossovers between fiber and painting, sculpture, photography, computer technology, performance, fashion, and interior architecture are encouraged.
Emphasis is placed on a fine arts point of view.
The department believes that a curriculum emphasizing inventiveness, combined with strong technical training, serves both the fine artist and the student who later may choose an applied design or industrial orientation. Students are assisted in developing and clarifying individual directions and conceptual concerns and are made aware of the present and past historical context of fiber and material studies. There is a range of exciting fiber resources available in Chicago. Classes draw upon the comprehensive collection of textiles in the Art Institute's Department of Textiles , while the indigenous ethnic textiles at the Field Museum offer further historical resources. The Merchandise Mart and Apparel Center house showrooms of contemporary interior and fashion textiles.