HCC and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, sign MOU in advance of Fashion Fusion event
Apr 23, 2019
Houston Community College (HCC) and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, (MFAH) held a ceremony Thursday, April 18, for the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), formally recognizing the community partnership between the two institutions. The MOU recognizes this ongoing cultural collaboration and details how HCC and the MFAH will promote a range of joint educational programs.
“This signing comes at an opportune time, as we launch our fifth annual Fashion Fusion collaborative competition,” said HCC Chancellor Dr. Cesar Maldonado. “With the focus on our students’ passion for artistic expression, this project has always provided the ideal forum for creativity and design.”
“The Museum’s partnership with HCC creates a deep curricular immersion,” said Caroline Goeser, W. T. and Louise J. Moran Chair of the Department of Learning and Interpretation, MFAH. “Through Fashion Fusion, the galleries become laboratories for student learning.”
HCC Board Chair Dr. Carolyn Evans-Shabazz spoke at the MOU ceremony explaining her vision for the collaboration.
“We also plan to continue engaging Houston’s art community by promoting joint public programs between HCC and MFAH,” she said. “Clearly, this MOU will pave the way to even more success for all of our art students.” Fashion Fusion will take place Thursday, April 25 at 7 p.m., and Dr. Shabazz will introduce a video of the signing during intermission.
This year, for Fashion Fusion, more than 100 HCC design students and alumni created garments inspired by the groundbreaking exhibition Vincent van Gogh: His Life in Art, currently on view at MFAH through Thursday, June 27, 2019. Twenty-four finalists will display their looks on the runway in the MFAH’s Cullinan Hall, 1001 Bissonnet Street.
“What began as just a fashion show has blossomed into such a great outreach program,” said Suzette Brimmer, co-program director for the arts and design department of HCC’s Consumer Arts & Sciences Center of Excellence. “And now, with this MOU, we have the potential to do lots of collaborations with the MFAH. There are incredible ideas going on here between the two groups.”
At Fashion Fusion, a panel of judges will select two designs each from four thematic categories relating to periods of creativity in Van Gogh’s life: Inception, Awakening, Euphoria and Melancholy. In addition, an immediate Audience Choice winner will be selected, on-site, with the use of cell phone votes. All of the winners will receive scholarships to the Glassell School of Art.
Judges for the competition are Helga Aurisch, curator of European Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Ebele Iloanya, designer, MODChic; and Luisa Babarczy, style editor and fashion consultant.
“These students and alumni have worked diligently on these designs,” said Vi Hua, who is on the faculty of HCC’s fashion design department. “They have been working since January, so they’re really excited to finally fit professional models to walk that huge catwalk at the MFAH.”
Following the runway show, the student designers will take their show on the road during a summer outreach program. The tour will launch with their collection being displayed at the MFAH and will continue touring through retail venues and libraries throughout Houston and Harris County.
Interviews will be available in English and Spanish. A press staging area will be available at the runway show. Please RSVP to shobson@mfah.org by 11 a.m. on Thursday, April 25, to reserve your spot at Fashion Fusion.
