What happens when a doily becomes a protest? When a vintage dress carries a political argument? When felt letter messages stapled to a telephone pole in Philadelphia say exactly what someone needed to hear that day?
Join us for a Design Conversation with Philadelphia artist and Arcadia University professor Carole Loeffler, whose work sits at the intersection of craft, activism, and the quiet power of found objects.
What to Expect:
- Carole opens by walking us through 6-7 bodies of work from her practice, from intimate wearable objects to large-scale public installations.
- A moderated interview digs into her materials, her process, and the decisions behind the work: why doilies, why vintage dresses, why the street, and what it means to make something tender in a moment that feels anything but.
- Time for audience questions and discussion.
Timeline
- Arrive at 5:30 pm if you’d like to have a look at MODA’s current exhibition, Public Notice: The U.S. International Poster Biennial
- Design Conversation begins at 6:00 pm
About Carole Loeffler
Carole Loeffler is a Philadelphia-based artist and Professor of Art and Design at Arcadia University whose practice draws on craft, textile, and found domestic objects to explore themes of mental health, feminine identity, and social resistance.
Her best-known project, Granny Graffiti, began as an act of private encouragement -- messages cut from red felt and mounted on vintage doilies, left on telephone poles around her neighborhood for strangers to find. That work eventually grew into a permanent installation at Philadelphia International Airport, where hundreds of pieces cover an entire wall with phrases like "be kind," "it isn't over," and "you belong."
Across her broader body of work, Loeffler returns again and again to materials inherited from other women's lives: found dresses, old linens, vintage photographs, domestic objects worn soft with use. She treats them as evidence -- of labor, of feeling, of lives that didn't always get to speak for themselves -- and gives them new words to carry.
Her work has been exhibited widely and recognized by Philadelphia Arts & Culture/365. She can be found online at caroleloeffler.com and on Instagram at @caroleloeffler.
Registration: $12 / $6 for MODA Members
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Accessibility: Designers with different styles of learning or special needs are welcome in MODA public programs. We will be able to most effectively help everyone learn and enjoy this experience if we know about those needs in advance of the program. Please email miranda@museumofdesign.org with questions or information.
Cancellation Policy: MODA reserves the right to cancel a program if the minimum enrollment requirements are not met, but don't worry: should MODA have to cancel, we will gladly issue a full refund to all registrants. If you need to cancel your plans for any reason, we kindly request that you notify us at least 7 days prior to the event start. By doing so, we can process a refund for the ticket cost (minus a small $10 processing fee per class). Unfortunately, we cannot provide refunds for cancellations made less than 7 days before an event.
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