Building Impactful Partnerships
Endowment support gives one faculty member the freedom to advance research and create new collaborative programs that benefit RISD students.
“RISD’s great asset is how seriously we take our teaching,” says Anais Missakian 84 TX, who holds the Pevaroff-Cohn Family Chair in Textiles. “But it can be challenging for faculty to balance the time they invest in teaching with what is required to advance research and creative practice. The support I receive from this position provides me with the much-needed flexibility to do both.”
I am incredibly grateful to Lisa Pevaroff 83 TX for her generosity in endowing this professorship. It is an honor to hold the position that bears her family’s name. She’s an accomplished practicing artist and designer, so her recognition and support of my career and the department is particularly meaningful.”
Missakian is engaged in collaborative work with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Advanced Functional Fabrics of America, an institute dedicated to transforming traditional fibers, yarns and fabrics into highly sophisticated, integrated and networked products and systems.“RISD’s great asset is how seriously we take our teaching,” says Anais Missakian 84 TX, who holds the Pevaroff-Cohn Family Chair in Textiles. “But it can be challenging for faculty to balance the time they invest in teaching with what is required to advance research and creative practice. The support I receive from this position provides me with the much-needed flexibility to do both.”
“The advanced textiles research space is very exciting but very difficult to pursue in a serious way without collaborating with engineers and materials scientists,” explains Missakian. “We are working on integrating new fibers into fabrics, and I work with students to help construct these fabrics. I’ve also brought some of my former students, now RISD alumni, into the institute.
“It is vitally important to have the time to work with other institutions. Because of the flexibility afforded by this endowed professorship, I have been able to create niche projects within the department in which students are invited to participate. It is not a shift in the curriculum per se, but opportunities that would not be offered otherwise,” she adds.
When asked about how the study of textiles is evolving at RISD, Missakian notes that in addition to advanced textiles research, there is the important collaborative work being done with the RISD Museum. Kate Irvin, curator of costume and textiles, selects items for the students to study. They create works in response that are then shown in the Designing Traditions biennial next to the objects referenced. Through the support of the gift, Missakian traveled with Irvin to Oaxaca, Mexico, to research local weaving and dyeing methods. They hope this will expand into a larger collaborative project between the museum and department.
“I’m delighted, through my own interests and professional work, to be able to participate in bringing this range of opportunities to our students," she adds.
“Anais Missakian is an extraordinarily gifted artist, teacher and researcher. I am thrilled see how she is making the most of the support she receives from the endowed chair,” says RISD trustee Lisa Pevaroff 83 TX. “It is exciting to watch her advanced textiles work flourish. RISD students are fortunate to learn from such a committed professor who chooses to create new opportunities for her students through her research partnerships.”
