{"id":36170,"date":"2025-11-05T09:02:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T09:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/36170\/"},"modified":"2025-11-05T09:02:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T09:02:07","slug":"baylor-is-home-to-last-fiber-arts-program-in-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/36170\/","title":{"rendered":"Baylor is home to last fiber arts program in Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Kaylee Hayes | Reporter<\/p>\n

In Baylor\u2019s fiber studio, color moves through every corner. Tables are covered in thread, dye and fabric as students settle into a steady rhythm at their looms. The room feels focused, seemingly part classroom, part workshop.<\/p>\n

Tina Linville<\/a>, assistant professor of art, teaches Baylor\u2019s fiber surface design and weaving classes, where students learn to think through materials.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat fiber looks like is unpredictable and wild and magical,\u201d Linville said. \u201cLots of freedom here to be creative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baylor\u2019s fiber program holds a rare position<\/a> in Texas higher education, as similar programs around the state have been phased out. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are actually the very last BFA-granting R1 fiber concentration here in the state of Texas,\u201d Linville said. \u201cSo if you are interested in studying fiber at the undergraduate level at an R1-level institution \u2026 this is where you go.\u201d<\/p>\n

The department was formerly called fabric design, a name Linville said didn\u2019t fit the work being done. She led a change to \u201cfiber\u201d to better represent<\/a> the program\u2019s scope.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I got here, this program and this department were called fabric design, which is really confusing because we\u2019re not designing patterns on a computer to print on textiles,\u201d Linville said.<\/p>\n

Linville said the new name reflects the discipline\u2019s variety and ambition.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can make something that would exist on the wall like a painting,\u201d Linville said. \u201cYou can also make something that you can wear on your body or use in your home, or you can make a sculpture that exists in three-dimensional space.\u201d<\/p>\n

Linville\u2019s surface design students start with plain fabric and learn to alter it through dye, paint and embellishment.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery fabric that you see when we go inside the studio started white,\u201d Linville said. \u201cSo it\u2019s a complex thing to get that color where we want, how we want and then from there, how do we make art with it?\u201d<\/p>\n

The weaving course focuses on rhythm and repetition. Students use looms to build texture through movement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith this loom, I can operate the pedals with my feet, so my hands can be focused on this,\u201d Linville said. \u201cIt almost feels like taking a walk. There\u2019s a rhythm and sensation that\u2019s really part of the power of weaving.\u201d<\/p>\n

League City senior and studio art major Moriah Aragon said the class reshaped how she sees art. Linville, she said, treats students like professionals.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things that stands out to me the most about Tina is that it\u2019s her goal to treat us and train us as artists, not just as students, but to prepare us as professionals who are equipped to make artistic decisions,\u201d Aragon said.<\/p>\n

Aragon said Linville encourages creative risk, which is an important aspect of studio arts. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe trusts us a lot, and she lets us wear our artist hats,\u201d Aragon said. <\/p>\n

Aragon said weaving connects her to family history and spirituality.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is unique in the way that it calls upon a really rich tradition and a historical form of art that is kind of unlike any other medium in its age,\u201d Aragon said. \u201cIt\u2019s exciting to approach this medium knowing that I\u2019m adding my voice in a conversation that\u2019s so ancient and so rich.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dallas senior and studio art major Kate Swayze said Linville\u2019s surface design class helped her rethink painting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had a unique experience, because in my painting, I use a lot of fiber,\u201d Swayze said. \u201cI incorporate my painting rags from previous paintings into my next painting. So it\u2019s kind of like this endless cycle where each painting creates a new painting rag.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swayze said learning the technical side of fiber has expanded her creative process.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been interesting taking the surface design class and learning about different materials, different substrates and actual application techniques that I didn\u2019t even know existed,\u201d Swayze said. <\/p>\n

Swayze said Linville pushes students to question boundaries in art<\/a>, which has been a common theme discussed among artists or all disciplines as technology changes and improves. <\/p>\n

\u201cTina challenges this idea of the difference between art and craft,\u201d Swayze said. \u201cShe pushes the boundaries a lot. Why can\u2019t things that some people call craft be considered art?\u201d<\/p>\n

Linville said her goal is to help students take ownership of their work and trust their process. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the students are really taking ownership of these techniques for their own practices, where it\u2019s not like they\u2019re trying to please me or make work like mine, but they\u2019re making their own work and seeing how fiber and the materials might speak to their ideas \u2014 that\u2019s when I know I\u2019m doing my job,\u201d Linville said.<\/p>\n

The studio art minor, which only requires six classes, allows students outside the major to take part in creative courses. Linville hopes to see the program grow and develop over time. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a doable commitment, and it gets you access to these creative classes,\u201d Linville said. \u201cFor so many people, it\u2019s a mental health thing. It can be such a gift to the intensity of this time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Kaylee Hayes | Reporter In Baylor\u2019s fiber studio, color moves through every corner. Tables are covered in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36171,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[440,2634,22846,27,29,28],"class_list":["post-36170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-event","tag-icon","tag-link","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}