Sara Desvernine Reed
Sara Reed is an art and design historian with an emphasis in American material culture studies and an assistant professor in the Department of Interior Design at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Dr. Reed teaches the history and theory of interior environments to undergraduate and graduate students as well as thesis research as part of the capstone projects for the BFA and MFA programs. Her interest in pattern research stems from her belief that the most ubiquitous elements of our built environment can yield interlocking stories of politics and economies as well as craft and community.
Dr. Sara Reed and Emily Smith, assistant professors with VCU Interior Design, received a 2018 VCUarts Exploratory Research Grant that is funding their current work, Patterns of Place. In examining man-made and naturally created patterns and motifs in Virginia, their research explores the ways in which these often-understudied forms convey meaning and ideology. By studying these regional, vernacular patterns, they are working to develop a catalog of existing regional patterns as well as a methodology of study that can be used to examine patterns around the globe.