2023 Costume Society of America Grants, Projects, Awards, and Honors Announced

Costume Society of America (CSA) is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2023 grants, projects, awards, and honors. “There was a phenomenal level of excellence among our nominees this year,” says Arlesa Shephard, CSA Vice President for Awards and Honors. Elise Rousseau, Vice President for Grants and Projects adds, “Thank you to all of the candidates who prepared such impressive application submissions. We encourage all our members to submit your future projects for consideration.” Shephard and Rousseau want to express their gratitude to all our committee chairs and members for volunteering their time and efforts so that we can recognize all these important achievements.

Abby Lillethun adds her name to those who have been honored as a Costume Society of America Fellow due to her significant contributions to the field of costume. Dr. Lillethun serves as chairperson of the Montclair State University Department of Art and Design where she is Professor of Fashion Cultures and Histories, and as one juror wrote, “her work in academia produces both new scholarship and future scholars. Her volunteer commitment to numerous boards and committees at both the regional and national level as well as her scholarly contributions to conferences and to Dress show commendable dedication to the mission and work of the Costume Society of America.”

This year, two honorees have received the Mary D. Doering Guardian Honor, which pays tribute to Doering and other guardians like her who recognize the values of artistic, historical, and socially significant objects of dress and appearance. Susan J. Jerome is Collections Manager at the University of Rhode Island Historic Textile and Costume Collection, and she also works as the Curator/Registrar of the Historic Costume Collection at the University of Connecticut. A juror remarked, “I’m inspired by her devotion to collections management, holistically embracing a role which includes curatorial, conservation, and registrarial duties, as well as sharing the collection with students and ensuring public access through the digital online database.” Textile conservator Marie T. Schlag is the Principal at the Studio for Textile Conservation in Scituate, Massachusetts. For many years she has been an integral part of the CSA Angels team, and her work in procuring donations of supplies and helping to run the event has immeasurably contributed to the success of the project.

This year’s Millia Davenport Publication Award goes to Frankie Welch’s Americana by Ashley Callahan (The University of Georgia Press), and the Betty Kirke Excellence in Research Award is given to Tina Bates for On the Margins: Convict Dress at the Kingston Penitentiary, 1890-1920. The Costume Design Award is given to Aly Amidei for her “Totally 80’s Shakespeare: Sitcom Inspired Costumes for The Merry Wives of Windsor” and The Howard Vincent Kurtz Emerging Theatre Artist Award is given to Mona Jahani, a student at Michigan State University, for her design, Monsieur d’Eon is a Woman. The two Richard Martin Exhibition Awards go to Parachute: Subversive Fashion of the ’80s at the McCord Stewart Museum and Uncut Attire: How Weaving Informs Wearables at the Center for Design and Material Culture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In addition to honors and awards, CSA distributes grant money to a variety of individuals and organizations in the field. The CSA Stella Blum Student Research Grant assists the research of a current undergraduate or graduate student who is conducting original research in the field of North American costume. This year’s Blum Grant goes to Leigh Danielle Honeycutt Porche of Louisiana State University for her project Louisiana Cowgirls, Cowboys and Cowthems: Negotiating Gender, Race and Appearance on the Trail. The 2023 Angels Project Grant is given to Heritage Museum of Layton, a small historical museum in Layton, Utah. Two Adele Filene Student Presenter Grants go to Yee Lin Elaine Yuen of Kent State University and Colleen Pokorny of University of Minnesota. A full list of grants, honors, and awards, including honorable mentions and commendations, can be found below.

Grants, Projects, Honors, and Awards were celebrated on Wednesday, May 24, 2023, during CSA’s Annual National Meeting and Symposium in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Costume Society of America Fellow Honor: Abby Lillethun, Teaneck, New Jersey

Mary D. Doering Guardian Honor: Susan J. Jerome, Stonington, Connecticut; Marie T. Schlag, Scituate, Massachusetts

CSA Costume Design Award: Aly Amidei, The Merry Wives of Windsor

CSA Richard Martin Exhibition Award, Large Museum: Parachute: Subversive Fashion of the ’80s, Alexis Walker, McCord Stewart Museum, Montreal, Canada

CSA Richard Martin Exhibition Award, Small Museum: Uncut Attire: How Weaving Informs Wearables, Addison Nace, Center for Design and Material Culture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Commendation: Venus & Diana: Fashioning the Jazz Age, Clare Sauro, Robert and Penny Fox Historic Costume Collection at Drexel University

CSA Howard Vincent Kurtz Emerging Theatre Artist Award: Mona Jahani, Michigan State University, Monsieur d’Eon is a Woman

CSA Stella Blum Student Research Grant: Leigh Danielle Honeycutt Porche, Louisiana State University, Louisiana Cowgirls, Cowboys and Cowthems: Negotiating Gender, Race and Appearance on the Trail

CSA Travel Research Grant: Dr. Ingrid Mida, The Art and Fashion of the Vest

College and University Collection Care Grant: Pennsylvania State University School of Theatre Fashion Archive, University Park, Pennsylvania

CSA Small Museum Collection Care Grant: Gresham Historical Society, Gresham, Oregon

Millia Davenport Publication Award: Frankie Welch’s Americana by Ashley Callahan and LaDonna Harris (The University of Georgia Press); Honorable Mention: Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love by Laura L. Camerlengo and Dilys E. Blum (Yale University Press and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco)

Adele Filene Student Presenter Grants: Yee Lin Elaine Yuen, Kent State University, Senbazuru’s Recall: One Thousand Cranes for Peace; Colleen Pokorny, University of Minnesota, Transforming Quilts into Garments: Designers’ Experiences with Upcycling

CSA Angels Project: Heritage Museum of Layton, Layton, Utah

Betty Kirke Excellence in Research Award: Tina Bates, On the Margins: Convict Dress at the Kingston Penitentiary, 1890-1920

Scholars’ Roundtable: Crossroads of Dress and Adornment: Creativity, Culture and Collaboration; Adam MacPhàrlain, Missouri Historical Society; Kelly Reddy-Best, Iowa State University; Petra Slinkard, Peabody Essex Museum; Leon Wiebers, Loyola Marymount University

President’s Awards: Howard Vincent Kurtz and Arlesa Shephard

Pictured above from left to right:

Image from On the Margins: Convict Dress at the Kingston Penitentiary, 1890-1920, the Betty Kirke Excellence in Research Award winning abstract by Tina Bates; Falstaff and Mistress Quickly, designs by Aly Amidei, The Merry Wives of Windsor, recipient of the CSA Costume Design Award; two Mapuche ponchos (makuñ) from Chile, installation image of Uncut Attire: How Weaving Informs Wearables, Addison Nace, Center for Design and Material Culture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, recipient of a CSA Richard Martin Exhibition Award.