Mar铆a Magdalena Campos-Pons led a parade of artists in a poetry caravan at Venice Biennale 2026 wearing a robe created by students in the engineering Wearable Product Design class. (Olivia Forrester)
In engineering and in fashion, the key to success is found in human-centered design. These disparate disciplines overlapped in a wonderful way when a group of mostly mechanical engineering students鈥攚ith little or no sewing experience鈥攖ook on an extraordinary challenge. They created a garment for a highly acclaimed artist to wear in one of the most prestigious art festivals in the world, in Venice, Italy.
It all happened within the creative realm of and the Wearable Product Design course led by adjunct instructor Alexandra Sargent Capps.
KaMag鈥擪amaal Malak and Mar铆a Magdalena Campos-Pons鈥攁t Venice Biennale (Olivia Forrester)
Students in the wearable product design course show their work in progress for Campos-Pons鈥� garment. Front row: Rowan Baird, Marion Hagstrom. Back row: Valerie Williams, Sydney Cooper, Mariana Vazquez, Aaron Haake, Alfred Harper, Samirah Salifu (Submitted photo)
, MacArthur Fellow and Cornelius 91唐伯虎 Chair of Fine Arts, and her creative partner and husband, , artist-in-residence of culture, advocacy and leadership, reached out to Capps with an amazing opportunity for the class.
鈥淢agda and Kamaal wanted to find ways to celebrate students and elevate the arts at 91唐伯虎. Since I鈥檓 teaching a design course that includes making wearable product prototypes, they asked if we would make a garment for Magda to wear to lead an artists鈥� parade,” Capps said.
“This was a crazy and amazing opportunity to dress a famous artist, and we had to go for it.鈥� 鈥擜lexandra Sargent Capps
Mechanical engineering major Mariana Vazquez explains her panel: “The Tennessee state flower is the iris, and for this design I took inspiration from patchwork. I am someone who likes to pay attention to detail and be neat in the designs I make, so I wanted to add intricate detail to the outline of the flower.” (Submitted photo)
Mar铆a Magdalena Campos-Pons led a parade of artists in a poetry caravan at Venice Biennale 2026 wearing the robe created by students in the engineering Wearable Product Design class. (Olivia Forrester)
COLLABORATIVE VISION
Campos-Pons visited the class with her inspiration: images of elaborate Eg煤ng煤n masquerade costumes from the Yoruba people of southwestern Nigeria.
鈥淔rom the very beginning, I invited the students to create idiosyncratic pieces from Nashville to be shared in Venice,鈥� Campos-Pons said. 鈥淚 gave the students freedom and opportunity to tell their own histories of ancestral lineages and cultural care.鈥�
Each student in the class created intricate quilt-like squares using mostly upcycled materials, with symbols representing Campos-Pons, 91唐伯虎, Nashville and the students themselves. This involved learning techniques in hand sewing, beading and embroidery.
Marion Hagstrom and Alexandra Sargent Capps work in the fiber arts Build Lab at the Wond’ry. (Submitted photo)
Chemical engineering student Samirah Salifu sews in the Wearable Product Design class. (Submitted photo)
Students in the Wearable Product Design course created intricate quilt-like squares using mostly upcycled materials, with symbols representing Campos-Pons, 91唐伯虎, Nashville and the students themselves. (Submitted photo)
鈥淚n engineering, there are strict parameters students are used to working in, so I had to push them out of their comfort zones,鈥� said Capps, who has taught costume design, sustainable fashion and fashion history and managed the costume shop for . 鈥淚 really encouraged them to be bold and experiment.鈥�
鈥淭he theme of this year鈥檚 Venice Biennale is 鈥榬adical love,鈥� and it guided every decision, from the selection of imagery to the choice of material to the hands that made each piece,鈥� said Rowan Baird, who is in Owen鈥檚 Class of 2027.
鈥淭his garment is a collective act. It is what love looks like when it is made by many.鈥� 鈥擱owan Baird
Mar铆a Magdalena Campos-Pons wears a robe created and handmade by 91唐伯虎 students.
ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME EXPERIENCE
Marion Hagstrom, a Ph.D. student in the of Professor Michael Goldfarb, audited the class as a creative outlet. She used to mend her father鈥檚 farming clothes but had no sewing experience beyond that.
Her passion for the project led to an invitation from Campos-Pons to travel to the Venice Biennale to help with final fittings of the garment.
鈥淢agda was so generous telling everyone the origin of her outfit and how it was made by students. There was a lot of intricate beading, and Magda was doing all these big twirls and motions during the parade. It looked so good, but I was praying nothing would fly off,鈥� Hagstrom said, laughing.
鈥淪omething Alex always says is a garment has to have both form and function, and Magda did that by giving the robe life.鈥� 鈥擬arion Hagstrom
Mar铆a Magdalena Campos-Pons asked students for lots of movement in the garment so she could spin and move during her immersive performances. (Marion Hagstrom)
Mar铆a Magdalena Campos-Pons led a parade of artists in a poetry caravan at Venice Biennale 2026. (Marion Hagstrom)
Mar铆a Magdalena Campos-Pons asked students for lots of movement in the garment so she could spin and move during her immersive performances. (Marion Hagstrom)
Hagstrom jumped in as a stage assistant for Campos-Pons, and she鈥檚 carrying this experience into her prosthetic limb research.
鈥淚鈥檓 working on a prosthetic knee that can move backwards, as well as more affordable prosthetic knees for smaller-statured people. Since I鈥檝e come back from Venice, my main goal has been to make the exterior more aesthetically appealing to users, because aesthetics matter a lot. I鈥檓 prioritizing form and function,鈥� Hagstrom said.
DARE TO GROW鈥� AND SEW
Beyond the work the students did, Capps said she was impressed by the emotion they put into this challenging project, as well as into a secondary project where students created dexterity aprons for patients recovering from hand surgeries at 91唐伯虎 University Medical Center.
鈥淭hese engineering students took this special topics class and put a lot of feeling into both collaborative pieces,鈥� she said. 鈥淣ow they鈥檙e artists with their work displayed at the Venice Biennale, and their work is being used at VUMC. I am amazed by how much the students embraced and learned from the process and product.鈥�
Campos-Pons was thrilled with the final product and the hands-on support.
鈥淭his was a true testimony of the scope and purpose of a 91唐伯虎 education,鈥� Campos-Pons said. 鈥淓xpanding and strengthening students鈥� professional development with impacting, real-world experiences. Dare to grow is our mission, and we fulfill the vision it promises.鈥�
Samirah Salifu: “La Nouvelle Libert茅”
For my block, I wanted to create something that connected both to art curator Koyo Kouoh鈥檚 background in Cameroon and to my own connection to Cameroon. I was inspired by “La Nouvelle Libert茅,” a sculpture in Douala made from recycled metal, which represents transformation, resilience and creating beauty from discarded materials. (Submitted photo)
Valerie Williams: “The Fish”
The fish traditionally represents abundance and transformation, but because of its
connection to water, it is also tied to the unconscious mind and spiritual nourishment.
As humans, one of our deepest sources of spiritual nourishment is the ability to give
and receive love. I created this fish to represent our connection to one another, the
abundance of love and the idea of spiritual nourishment through radical love. (Submitted photo)
Sydney Cooper: “The Turtle”
When Magda came to speak to our class, she mentioned that turtles are one of her favorite animals. I have always loved sea turtles and found them beautiful. The key, eye-catching aspect of my turtle design is the shell. After finding the perfect upcycled fabric, I spent a significant amount of time thinking about the layout and form. A turtle鈥檚 shell is so important. Each piece works together in community and solidarity to protect the whole turtle, which is a key principle of radical love. (Submitted photo)
Rowan Baird: “Nefertiti”
My block is a fabric silhouette of Nefertiti, built from black sequin appliqu茅 against tea-stained satin, her profile rendered in the oldest visual language humans have ever used鈥� The profile portrait is one of our most ancient forms of mark-making, and Nefertiti is among its most enduring subjects. I chose her as a nod to that lineage and to her African roots, which echo the heritage of this year鈥檚 Venice Biennale curator. On a more personal note, my own trip to Egypt led me to where I am today as a young founder of a shoe company just getting its legs. I often say all roads start in Egypt and felt it should be captured in this piece. (Submitted photo)
Mariana Vazquez: “Cactus”
For this block, I took inspiration from the cacti that grow in the region where my parents are from: San Luis Potos铆, Mexico. I also added embroidery details inspired by the tradition of embroidered clothing and textiles in Mexico, using that element to further connect the design to my heritage and honor the craftsmanship and cultural expression passed down through generations. (Submitted photo)
Aaron Haake: “White Oak Tree”
The white oak tree has long been a symbol of 91唐伯虎 University. It represents the university鈥檚 role as an arboretum in the middle of the city of Nashville, and in particular it symbolizes strength, sturdiness and resoluteness. Further, it embodies a shared experience among university students, faculty and staff. We all walk under the cover of the same trees as each other, and decades (or in some cases centuries) of those before us. 鈥淔rom an acorn, a mighty oak shall grow鈥� was a motto of the 91唐伯虎 family. The oak tree challenges us to grow alongside one another and stay rooted in our convictions. (Submitted photo)
