Mary Anne Friel

Associate Professor
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R I S D faculty member Mary Anne Friel
BFA, Tyler School Of Art

Mary Anne Friel is a visual artist whose work explores natural and built environments at the intersection of geophysical phenomena, visceral experience, scientific observation, cultural knowledge and imagination. She co-curated the exhibitions Natural Discourse: Artists, Architects, Scientists & Poets in the Garden, University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley; Blur: Six Artists/Six Designers in Contemporary Practice, University of the Arts; Close at Hand, Fabric Workshop and Museum; and Relatively Related: Solo of Xiang Yang, SZ Art Center, Beijing. She was awarded residencies at the Smithsonian, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and Arcadia Summer Art Program and a Scientific Research Permit at Lassen Volcanic National Park. Friel has a permanent site-specific installation at the University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley.

Before joining the RISD faculty, Friel worked for over two decades as project coordinator and master printer at the Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM) developing new works of contemporary art and related exhibitions in an experimental context with artists from across disciplines including Carrie Mae Weems, Chris Burden, James Luna, Teresita Fernandez, Senga Nengudi and Mike Kelley. She expanded FWM's interdisciplinary studio practice by engaging architects, composers, videographers, industrial fabricators, bird wranglers and scientists to collaborate on artist projects. Friel worked in FWM’s Philadelphia and New York studios and established a studio in Oakland, CA that she directed from 1990–99. The FWM projects she realized are in the permanent collections of the Fabric Workshop and Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Museum Moderner Kunst, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Tate.

Friel has held a full-time faculty position at RISD since 2011. She has served as department head of Textiles and graduate program director.

Courses

Fall 2024 Courses

TEXT 4828-01 - FINE ARTS TEXTILES
Level Undergraduate
Unit Textiles
Subject Textiles
Period Fall 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

TEXT 4828-01

FINE ARTS TEXTILES

Level Undergraduate
Unit Textiles
Subject Textiles
Period Fall 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2024-09-04 to 2024-12-11
Times: T | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM Instructor(s): Derrick Woods-Morrow, Mary Anne Friel Location(s): College Building, Room 210 Enrolled / Capacity: 12 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

In this senior level course emphasis is placed on the development and definition of individual direction. Students' work can range from installations to two-dimensional pieces and can employ any techniques and materials, from weaving, printing, knitting, or any improvised construction techniques.

Estimated Cost of Materials: Varies based on use of advanced equipment. Additional fees may incur.

Elective

TEXT 484G-01 - TEXTILE SEMINAR I
Level Graduate
Unit Textiles
Subject Textiles
Period Fall 2024
Credits 6
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

TEXT 484G-01

TEXTILE SEMINAR I

Level Graduate
Unit Textiles
Subject Textiles
Period Fall 2024
Credits 6
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2024-09-04 to 2024-12-11
Times: TH | 8:00 AM - 1:00 PM Instructor(s): Anna Gitelson-Kahn, Mary Anne Friel Location(s): College Building, Room 510 Enrolled / Capacity: 12 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

This course focuses on issues in the professional textile field, such as the effect of production parameters and end use on design decisions. While helping students become more familiar with the wide ranging market, from the most innovative to the traditional, this course aims at providing an awareness of how one's own work fits into this context. Lecturers include professionals from the field, who advise on the studio work required in this class.

This course is a requirement for second-year Graduate Textiles Students.

Major Requirement | MFA Textiles

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R I S D faculty member Mary Anne Friel
BFA, Tyler School Of Art