In this hands-on workshop, participants will design and create their own custom hoodies using printmaking, painting, appliqué, collage, and stitching techniques. Inspired by the artwork and shirt designs of the artist Briena Harmening, whose work is on view in In Her Place: Nashville Artists in the Twenty-First Century, students will explore how text on clothing can function as personal expression, political and social commentary, and branding while transforming their garments into wearable artwork. Each student will be provided with a hoodie and will leave with a one-of-a-kind piece that reflects their voice and creative style.
Students are encouraged but not required to bring any scrap fabrics that they might want to incorporate into their designs
If the program is sold out and you would like to be added to a wait list, please contact Shaun Giles at sgiles@FristArtMuseum.org.
About the Instructor
Briena Harmening’s work combines humor, critique, and Southern identity in the transformation of domestic and recycled textiles. Utilizing sewing, quilting, and sculptural techniques, she creates unexpected surfaces where stitched and screen-printed text interacts with nostalgic materials like quilts, kaftans, tarps, and tablecloths. Her pieces play with word spacing, repetition, and masking, creating visual puzzles that challenge how viewers process text. Harmening’s work is rooted in Southern vernacular and storytelling and draws from familial sayings, regional politics, and the complexities of inherited traditions.
Raised in Tennessee by a grandmother who was a seamstress and a mother who was a needleworker, she considers her work a collaboration with the women who originally crafted the textiles she deconstructs and reimagines. Harmening graduated from Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, and earned an MFA from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 2010. She currently teaches art at James Lawson High School, Nashville. Her work has been exhibited at Coral Springs Museum of Art, Coral Springs, FL; ArtFields, Lake City, SC; Strata Gallery, Santa Fe, NM; View Arts Center, Old Forge, NY; and The Browsing Room, Nashville, among other venues.
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