“Green Fashions, Lawn and Suburbia Line,” is on display at the Renaissance Gallery until Wednesday, Jan. 28. Stevie Famulari, environmental artist and NDSU assistant professor of landscape architecture, created the series of wearable artwork.
A teacher of the history of landscape architecture, Famulari was inspired to create the series by Levittown, N.Y., the first suburb to exist in the United States. In 1947, William Levitt created a grid pattern of cul-de-sacs and roads that we now know as suburbia. He executed his vision in a potato field.
“Since then, suburbia has grown and we have these ideas about lawn,” Famulari said. “In 1947, lawn regulations were developed to make it look like there was more green space.” The five pieces included in the series use forms, textures, materials and scale indicative of these land patterns. Famulari even created a piece that is based on the blueprint of Levittown and wore it to an event in New York.
The most dramatic and detailed piece, titled “Sunflower Field Perspective,” goes across the entire gallery. Famulari chose to create a wearable sunflower field because there are areas around the Fargo-Moorhead area that were sunflower fields turned into suburbs.
She learned how to sew from her grandmother. “My Italian grandmother was a seamstress so we always had access to a tailoring machine,” Famulari said. “I knew how to make lasagna by the time I was seven and I knew how to sew.”
A reception is planned for Monday, Jan. 26, from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Renaissance Gallery, located in Renaissance Hall, 650 N.P. Ave. For more information, contact Famulari at (505) 710-3586.