Stitches Magazine Partners with Rhode Island School of Design's Textile Department

TREVOSE, PA - November 19, 2010 - Stitches magazine today announced a unique partnership with the textile department of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) to launch a landmark embroidery program at the nation’s preeminent art and design college.

The embroidery program will become part of the RISD textile department, which offers a broad-based education in understanding and working with fabrics, fibers and patterns, as well as designing work intended for industrial production and/or the creation of fine-arts pieces.

Stitches magazine is one of six B-to-B publications published by the Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI). Stitches recently received six 2010 Azbee Awards of Excellence in editorial and design from the American Society of Business Publication Editors.

“For several years, we’ve wanted to enhance our students’ understanding of the creative and technical possibilities that embroidery has to offer,” said Anais Missakian, department head/professor of textiles at RISD. “Until now, students have experimented with sewing machines and hand techniques to create embroidered and embellished effects. With the support of ASI, Stitches and Hirsch International, we were able to purchase new equipment and software. The RISD textile department students and faculty are enthusiastic about experimenting and exploring embroidery techniques to their full potential as another form of expression.”

Hirsch International, with headquarters in Hauppauge, New York, supplied RISD with a Tajima electronic industrial embroidery machine and digitizing software at a substantial discount. The new equipment complements RISD’s advanced equipment in the weaving, knitting and print areas and increases students’ creative potential by introducing a new area into the curriculum. Madeira USA of Laconia, New Hampshire, is providing a six-month supply of embroidery thread and a discount on backing, bobbins and other supplies.

“At Stitches magazine, we realize how important it is for students to have access to a very strong embroidery and digitizing program at the university level,” said Nicole Rollender, editor of Stitches and ASI’s director of education. “We’re thrilled to be able to partner with such a prestigious institution as the Rhode Island School of Design to develop a program that will help students completely realize their commercial and creative aspirations.”

This fall, RISD trained its staff, technicians and select graduate students on the new equipment in anticipation of embroidery design courses being offered for the first time this summer. A full, six-week course curriculum will be offered in Winter 2011.

The partnership between Stitches and RISD is multifaceted and ongoing.

Each month, Stitches magazine and website will include a column featuring work from RISD students, along with blog posts on their classroom experiences. The magazine is also developing internship and career advancement programs for RISD students in partnership with ASI suppliers and decorators in the Philadelphia, New York and Providence, Rhode Island.

RISD students can access free online educational resources and take courses through ASI’s Online Learning Center. Students taking embroidery/digitizing courses will also be eligible to enter the Stitches Golden Needle Awards, the magazine’s annual design competition. Stitches is also planning to award an Excellence in Embroidery prize each semester to a RISD student. 

About Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) has earned a worldwide reputation as the preeminent art and design college in the country. Today, with more than 26,000 alumni, the college enrolls approximately 1,975 undergraduates and 425 graduate students from the United States and almost 50 countries, offering degree programs in the fine arts, architecture and design disciplines, and art education. Academic programs include research and design initiatives, the exploration of art criticism and contemporary cultural concerns, and international exchange programs. Each year, RISD hosts prominent and accomplished artists, critics and authors to its campus. Included within the college is The RISD Museum of Art, which houses a world-class collection of art objects from Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome and art of all periods from Asia, Europe and the Americas, as well as the latest in contemporary art. For more information, visit www.risd.edu or our.risd.edu.

About ASI
The Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) is the largest education, media and marketing organization serving the advertising specialty industry, with a membership of over 26,000 distributor firms (sellers) and supplier firms (manufacturers) of advertising specialties.  Supplier firms use ASI print and electronic resources to market products to over 22,000 ASI distributor firms.  Distributor firms use ASI print and electronic resources, which contain nearly every product in the industry from more than 3,500 reputable suppliers, to locate supplier firms and to market services to buyers.  ASI provides catalogs, information directories, newsletters, magazines, websites and databases, and offers e-commerce, marketing and selling tools.  Visit ASI online at asicentral.com and on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, the CEO's blog and the ASI Social Network.

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