Art & Art History, Environmental Studies, the Office of Sustainability, Theater, and Women’s Studies to host upcycler: REET AUS, Oct. 28 through Nov. 9
Colgate University’s Departments of Art and Art History, Environmental Studies, The Office of Sustainability, Theater and Women’s Studies will host artist and designer, Reet Aus, for a short residency. The residency includes an Environmental Studies Brown Bag lecture – Trash to Trend, in the ALANA Cultural Center, Oct. 28, at 12:15 p.m., a Friday Night Film Series screening Out of Fashion, in Golden Auditorium, Little Hall at 5 p.m., a workshop in Clifford Gallery, Little Hall Oct. 29 and 30, a conversation with Reet in Clifford Gallery, Little Hall, Oct. 31 at 4 p.m., and an artist talk Nov. 2 at 4:30 p.m. in Golden Auditorium Colgate’s Little Hall. An exhibition of the works created during the workshop will be on exhibit in Clifford Gallery, Little Hall, from Nov. 2 through 9.
Reet Aus has worked as a fashion designer since 1997. Since 2002 she has created her collections using the principle of reusing discarded materials to create a product of higher value, or upcycling. This process allows the textile waste produced during garment manufacture to be sent back into production through smart design, thus noticeably reducing the environmental impact of the industry. Reet Aus wrote her doctoral thesis on the possibilities of introducing upcycling into mass production in the fashion industry. Reet Aus is a Senior Research Fellow at the Estonian Academy of Arts and active as a costume designer in theater and film productions throughout Estonia. In 2015, the Nordic Business Report selected Reet Aus as one of the Top 20 Women in Business in the Nordic region.
Honors: TOP 3 European Environmentally Friendly Enterprise (2014), Woman of the Year (BPW Estonia 2014), Noteworthy Young Estonian (TOYP Estonia 2014), Environmentally Friendly Enterprise (Ministry of the Environment 2013), Civil Society Enterprise of the Year (NGO Association 2013), Woman of the Year – Magazine “Anne ja Stiil” (2013), Fashion Motor (2009), Natalie Mei Theatre Arts Annual Prize (2007), Estonian Theatre Prize (2006), Republic of Estonia Cultural Prize (2004), Little Needle (2003).