Biography

Artist-designer Ruth E. Funk

“I have a passion for multicultural textiles. My couture garments and jewelry designs honor the fine art of cloth-making.” -Ruth E. Funk Artist, designer and teacher Ruth E. Funk has always been interested in world textiles: contemporary, ethnic, historic. Knowledgeable about the ancient crafts of weaving and various dye and painting techniques, she appreciates the authentic handcrafted methods involved in creating beautiful fabrics from around the globe. Making custom clothing for her childhood dolls was Ruth’s first sewing adventure. She rarely sewed as an adult, but retiring from teaching college in 1983, she started creating again using needle and thread; her early pieces were small items such as jewelry and purses. Ruth’s entrée to making

one-of-a-kind garments came a few years later, when she discovered the square-cut pattern inspired by the comfortable, loose-fitting kimono style. Ruth often makes coordinating outfits—pants, blouses, skirts and fiber art jewelry—to go with her jackets and coats. The ultimate “creator of cloth,” Ruth is an intuitive designer who forms each couture creation by sewing pieces of recycled fabric together; the garments evolve as she adds embellishments and finishes them with contrasting fabric linings. The artist-designer seldom knows what the end design will look like when she begins. She strives to put together things that relate to the spirit of the fabric using principles of art such as spatial relationships, color, line and texture. Her pieces are all hand-finished, but she does use a Bernina sewing machine for major seams and heavier areas. The result is an expressive art form, intended to be shown in art galleries, textile museums and at her popular fashion shows. Ruth Funk was born in Dallas, Texas, and attended the University of Texas at Austin. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Texas Woman’s University. She majored in fine arts and spent an extra year of study at Milwaukee-Downer College in Wisconsin to become a registered occupational therapist. This profession gave her excellent exposure to many arts and handicrafts, which she taught at a U.S. military base in Germany. Ruth spent a significant part of her adult life in New York City, and she enjoyed extensive travel throughout Europe, Asia and Africa. One summer in Provincetown, Massachusetts, Ruth studied painting with abstract expressionist Hans Hofmann. Another summer, she went to Nantucket to study silk-screen and block-printing techniques as applied to fabrics. A prolific artist, she has also created original oil paintings and enameled silver jewelry pieces, many of which have been exhibited in New York and Texas. Ruth was the director of education at Albany Institute of History & Art for three years and was also part owner of a thriving contemporary art gallery. In 1983 she attended the Attingham Study Program in England sponsored by the National Historic Trust, which emphasized the English country house as an art form with in-depth study of all the decorative arts. The educator taught in the fine arts department at Russell Sage College in upstate New York and served as director of the interior design program after retirement. She is a past member of the America Society of Interior Designers and is presently a member of the Embroidery Guild of America. Ruth, an energetic octogenarian and effervescent artist, continues to design from her home-studio in Florida. The artist-designer’s new book, Cloth and Culture: Couture Creations of Ruth E. Funk, features her complete collection of garments and jewelry. As an author, teacher, guest lecturer, philanthropist and visionary, Ruth has been instrumental in spreading the word about world textiles through her generous gift to the Florida Institute of Technology. The university’s new gallery and exhibition space, the Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts, was built to educate students, design enthusiasts and the public about the value of textiles and their contribution to society as a whole. Ruth’s illustrious garments will be periodically showcased in the center. Visit Textiles.FIT.edu. For more information, book excerpts, digital images, and to arrange media interviews, guest appearances or fashion shows with Ruth E. Funk, please contact Anita Kasmar at Panache Partners: 469.246.6060 or akasmar@panache.com.

###