Talks

2025

Ambassador Talk American Tapestry Alliance

Seeds We Sow, 2023
Cotton and grasses
Unframed: 18 in x 19 in

Upcoming Ambassador Events

Suzanne Tick’s life and work have always been a narration of balance. Tick’s woven works harness the struggles of life, resulting in textiles that are both delicate and strong. She investigates found materials. As Tick states, “weaving holds everything together, materials and life, successes and failures.” From the beginning, Tick spent summers in her father’s scrap recycling yard sorting metals and exploring the possibilities in the cast-offs of rural life. At the University of Iowa, Tick began as a printmaker, etching fabric and texture onto copper plates. She left as a weaver, combining materials both hard and soft. In addition to her industry work, Suzanne maintains a hand-weaving practice and creates fine art woven sculptures from repurposed materials on the two looms in the space that are collected and exhibited worldwide. Her work has been exhibited in MoMA, Cooper Hewitt, MAD, Art Basel, and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, as well as collected by private and corporate clients. Suzanne’s TedXNavesink Talk: “Weaving Trash into Treasure” presents her unique and personal approach to hand weaving. Join us on Saturday, October 25, 2025, at 8 AM PST / 11 AM EST for our Ambassador Talk. Register for the FREE event here. The talk will be recorded and available to all members.

The Ambassador Program is an initiative developed by the American Tapestry Alliance featuring artists working outside traditional Western European tapestry techniques (Gobelin for example), but are creating work that either explores specific cultural relationships with materials and tapestry techniques or who are exploring the interconnections of threads that are adjacent to tapestry. Each Ambassador provides ATA members and supporters with a presentation about their work and the opportunity to engage with the artist after the presentation. Usually held twice a year, once in the fall and once in the spring, the program is held via Zoom and recorded so that members can watch at any time. Please consider joining as a member to receive our monthly newsletters that provide the dates of upcoming presentations.

2023

MAKING MATERIALS MATTER

Making Materials Matter is a visual journey through time, space and materials with Suzanne Tick, where she will share insights into her design process and the cultivation of emerging ideas and trends that are translated into sustainable product. Accredited for 1 AIA or IDCEC general learning unit.

Talk Location: Teknion + Studio TK + Luum WorkWell Week Discussion with PearsonLloyd, Chicago, IL, June 2022, Colab, Duabi, U.A.E., November 2022, Teknion + Stewart Program for Modern Design, Montreal, QC: Maison Forget, May 2023, Gensler London, May 2023, Gensler, DC, June 2023, Gensler Houston, August 2023, Cooper Hewitt Museum in conjunction with “A Dark, A Bright, A Light: The Designs of Dorothy Liebes,” New York City, October 2023, Rottet Studio, Dallas, New York, and Los Angeles, March 7, 2024, IIDA Pioneering Design: New York City, March 13, 2024, University of Iowa Art Department, Cedar Rapids, IA, March 21, 2024, Teknion: Clerken Well Design Week, London, May 21, 2024, HOK New York, NY, June 17, 2024.

2022

What Now?

What Now? is a visually inspirational talk on wellness and creativity from the perspective of designer, weaver and meditation instructor Suzanne Tick. A reflection of the Now, What Now? is the ever-changing discussion of our evolution, our connectivity with the world around us, and how to be relevant for the needs of the time as creatives in this ever-changing world. Accredited for 1 AIA or IDCEC general learning unit.

Talk Location: February 8, 2024, Gensler NY; May 10, 2023: Teknion + Stewart Program for Modern Design, Montreal, QC: Maison Forget; Virtual Series with Luum and Skyline Glass: March 29, April 5, May 3, May 17, 2023; June 2022, Teknion + Studio TK + Luum WorkWell Week Discussion with PearsonLloyd, Chicago, IL; November 2022, Colab, Duabi, U.A.E.

2021

The Science & Intuition of Color

Working with color is a combination of science and intuition. In this presentation led by Suzanne Tick, we evaluate several color theorists, artists, philosophers and share how we adopt these different scenarios onto the various product types that we design. The Science & Intuition of Color provides an informative and genuine approach on the consideration of each material from fiber to glass and shows how the products themselves reveal “what it wants to be.”

2021 Virtual Talk dates hosted by Tick Studio: May 13, 2021, June 2, 2021, June 9, 2021, June 17, 2021; May 19, 2021, Gensler Tokyo. Sept 29, 2021, FGM Architects Chicago. March 23, 2022 IIDA Great Plains. April 6, 2022 Wilkhahn Sydney, AUS.

2020

Creation Operation

The Creation Operation talk gives designer’s insight into Tick Studio’s creative process, how to cultivate creativity in one’s daily life and how the cycle of nature operates and organizes around the notion of creation.

2020 Virtual Talk Locations: September 2020, New York Textile Month, Textile TV with Sagarika Sundarum, New York, NY, October 2020, Good Lines Good Morning with Good Lines, Washington, DC.

2021 Virtual Talk Locations: January 2021, Vocon, New York, NY, February 2021, TPG Architecture, New York, NY, March 2021, Boston Modern Furniture, Boston, MA, March 2021, CBT Architects, Boston, MA, April 2021, IIDA Rocky Mountain Chapter.

2020

Tick Talks

Tick Talks is a virtual series of 15-minute talks offering ways to de-stress, access your creativity and strengthen relationships through a Vedic perspective.

2021 Talk dates: Jan 27, Luum Textiles, “Tapping Into The Five Senses Through the Lens of Vedic Design,” Feb 24, Luum Textiles, “The Launch of Collective Conscious and the Three Gunas,” March 24, Luum Textiles, “Transitioning / Transcending.” More dates to follow.

2020 Talk dates: May 19, Luum Textiles, “The Mechanics of Vedic Meditation,“ May 21, Tarkett, “The Creative Impulse for a Vedic Perspective,” June 16, Luum Textiles, “Let’s Un-Stress the Vedic Way,” July 21, Luum Textiles, “Following Charm: How the Mind Works,” August 18, Luum Textiles, “Life and Design Integration.”

2019

Life and Design Tenets

The Life and Design Tenets talk gives designer’s insight into gaining a high-level approach to cultivating creativity, approaches to awareness of the next design movements, and finding balance between life and design. These tenets will give creatives the tools to design confidently, strengthen relationships, and inspire their team members.

Talk Location: February 2019, Key Speaker for IIDA Red Award Winners, Skyline Design Chicago, IL, March 2019, Gensler, Hong Kong, March 2019, Steven Leach Associates, Tokyo, July 2019, HLW, Santa Monica, CA, August 2019, HKS Architects, Atlanta, GA, August 2019, Gensler, Atlanta, GA, August 2019, TVSdesign, Atlanta, GA, September 2019 – ASID Fall Into Design, Troy, NY, September 2019, Studio TK, Toronto, ON, October 2019, Tarkett Designer Roundtable at Mercury Contract, Kansas City, MO, November 2019, Key Speaker at IIDA Leadership by Design, Phoenix AZ, November 2019 – Smith Group, Phoenix, AZ, November 2019- NBBJ, New York, NY, November 2019, Tarkett Tick Studio Visit, New York, NY

2018

Making Matter

In Making Matter, Suzanne will share her design process and cultivation of emerging trends in celebration of Suzanne Tick and Tick Studio’s 25 year anniversary and rebrand.

Talk Location: October 2018, Keynote Speaker at Sally Walsh Lecture, Houston, TX, March 2019, M. Moser Associates, Hong Kong, March 2019, Gensler, Hong Kong, March 2019, Gensler, Tokyo, October 2019, IIDA Kansas City MADA Elev^te, Kansas City, Missouri, January 2020, Deborah Burke Partners, New York, NY

2018

Neoculture (CEU)

Today, we are witnessing novel cultural phenomena at an ever-increasing pace—separate cultures and generations are coming together within urban and suburban environments, not to mesh their ideals, but in order to create altogether new value structures and cultures. This idea is the core of “Neoculture,” a survey by Suzanne Tick of how art, technology, architecture, and design are being radically influenced by the emergence of new communities that hold sustainability, wellness, and authenticity at the core of their identities. This talk was sponsored by Tarkett.

Talk Locations: July 2018 IIDA Event, Nashville TN, October 2018 The Assemblage, New York NY, October 2018 Little, Charlotte NC, October 2018 Malverde’s, Austin TX, October 2018 Page, Houston TX, October 2018 Huitt Zollars, Houston TX, October 2018 Staffelback, Dallas TX, October 2018 Gensler, Dallas TX

2017

Ode to Elevation (Cultivation)

Ode to Elevation (Cultivation) delves into Suzanne’s early life’s work, her schooling and her design studio philosophy. All done in rhyme, this talk offers ethical codes of living a true and creative life.

Talk Locations: October 2017 IIDA Keynote Speaker, Iowa, February 2017 IIDA Keynote Speaker Houston, TX

2017

Re-incarnation

Reincarnation discusses the manifestation of one material into another. Suzanne speaks about being inspired by recycled materials and the process of how she transforms them into fine art weavings as well as product designs.

Talk Locations: February 2018, Kent State University, January 2018, Louisiana State University, January 2018, NY Guild of Hand-weavers, September 2017, Parsons School of Design NYTM, December 2019, Collegiate School for Boys New York, NY

2016

TedXNavesink Talk: Weaving Trash into Treasure

In her artistic practice, weaving trash materials and everyday remnants into new pieces is deeply intertwined with Suzanne Tick’s personal life. It becomes a transformative and cathartic process. In her compelling TEDXNavesink talk, Tick restores the value of discarded materials and uses weaving as a symbol of new beginnings, as a way to start over and reclaim her own existence. Suzanne states, “transformation has been a big theme in my life…dualities unfold in my understanding of what broken/disharmony and humor looks like through the creation of my woven art pieces.” Watch the full talk HERE

Talk Location: March 2016 Pollak Theater Monmouth University, New Jersey

2016

Who? // Me // Us (CEU)

As a continuation to the last few slides of 2014’s HIS & HERS, WHO?//ME//US focuses on SELF IDENTITY as it relates to today’s ECONOMIC and TECHNOLOGICAL landscape. It explores ideas of the SELF from EXISTENTIALISM, NARCISSISM to ALTRUISM in present day culture and how these themes are reflected in ART and DESIGN.

Talk Locations: April 2016 M Moser-New York, Mill Tour Tandus MN/ND/SD Dalton, GA, August 2016 Walt Disney Imaging LA Series, August 2016 HLW-LA, August 2016 AIA Lecture Series Aronsons New York, January 2017 LSU Lecture, March 2017 Kent State University, Winter 2017 Gensler, Chicago, IL

2014

His + Hers (CEU)

His & Hers is an observation of design in today’s western culture and how architecture, fashion, industrial design, and art are seen through the lens of these new gender embodiments. Our post-gender society is moving beyond gendered identities, toward a state of inclusion of new and different perspectives. Starting with the traditional office – once the exclusive domain of men and reflected accordingly in the mid-20th century workplace – Suzanne Tick will show us, with compelling imagery how artists, architects, and designers are working within this discourse to promote change. Read more in Metropolis Magazine: His & Hers: Designing for a Post-Gender Society

Talk Locations: March 2014 IIDA Speaker’s Series Los Angeles, CA, July 2014 IIDA Speaker’s Series Orange County, CA, July 2014 IIDA Speaker’s Series San Diego, CA, September 2014 Learning at Work Day Gensler New Jersey, September 2015 Education Symposium Seattle, WA, May 2016 International Broadcasting IA Education, Chicago, IL

2013

Life’s Work

Suzanne Tick “Life’s Work” offers a glimpse into the art and commercial work that happens at Suzanne Tick’s home studio. By unfolding the design activities of the day, themes of dualities emerge which drive her unique business model: balancing work and life, art and commerce, craft and technology, contemplation and collaboration.

Talk Locations: October 2013 Keynote Speaker Neocon East, May 2014 LMNOP Annual Benefit, January 2015 Textile Study Group of New York

2013

Surface Tension

Every day life is filled with Dualities and Opposing Forces that create interest and tension in and around everything we see and experience. These different forces arise from social and cultural shifts that occur as reactions to the natural order of things, as society assimilates both the past and the future. This presentation explores the idea that great design comes from Surface Tension, where contrasting properties make for the most dynamic treatment of surfaces and materials.

Talk Locations: March 2013 Corp. Symposium Oregon, June 2013 Hartford CT, September 2013 Toronto, Canada, May 2014 Ottawa, Canada, May 2014 Montreal, Canada, July 2014 Dallas, TX, July 2014 Houston, TX, September 2014 Vancouver, Canada, October 2014 Washington, DC

2012

Behind the Process

A behind the scenes look into Suzanne’s creative process from her East Village work/live studio. Learn about her latest commercial and artistic projects and the stories behind them.

Talk Locations: October 2017 Elkus Mandredi, Jacobs, Boston MA, October 2017 Forum, Gray Design, HOK, St. Louis MO, April 2017 Houston Design Week, Houston TX, September 2017 LAUCK Group, Staffelbach, Interior Architects, Gensler, Perkins + Will, HOK, Gensler, Dallas TX, January 2017 Gensler, Cannon Design, Perkins + Will, Chicago IL, June 2017 HDR, Chicago IL, October 2017 Studios, Gensler, San Francisco, CA, September 2016 Assembly, M. Moser, O+A, San Francisco CA, September 2016 IA, HOK, Wolcott, Los Angeles CA, August 2016 Continental Office, Columbus OH, August 2016 IIDA Event, Cleveland OH, July 2016 Talk is developed New York NY

2012

Countercolor

Countercolor is a view on how artists and designers are using color today. Many things are influencing how we use color including the latest printing and material technology and the natural and eco-friendly material options that are relevant today with our sustainability concerns. Our Postmodernist Internet era is reminiscent of the soulful and honest aesthetic of twentieth-century’s Modernist design and its color sensibility. This new chromatic language is both energizing and calming, forward thinking and back to basics.

Talk Locations: November 2012 Atlanta, GA, January 2013 Tandus Boston, MA Event, March 2013 Seattle, WA, March 2013 Charlotte NC, April 2013 New York, September 2013 Washington DC, September 2013 Toronto, Canada, October 2013 Healthcare Symposium Jackson Hole, WY

2011

Instinct, Logic, Lunacy

Drawing on sources as varied as the raw material and manufacturing processes, Suzanne’s approach is unique and her continual push to innovate is often filled with unexpected challenges. Instinct Logic Lunacy is a personal reflection on the creative process and how these concepts can propel an idea through to actualization often resulting in that break through moment.

Talk Locations: July 2012 Skyline Design sponsored lecture Chicago IL, February 2012 Syracuse University School of Architecture Lecture series, February 2012 Boston MA, October 2011 PDR-Houston TX, August 2011 Kling Philadelphia PA, July 2011 Keynote speaker at Minnecon Minneapolis MN, April 2011 Gensler-Houston TX, March 2011 NBBJ-Seattle WA, Gensler-Seattle WA, March 2011 Gensler, Denver CO Office/IA-Denver CO Office, IIDA March 2011 Denver CO, IIDA February 2011—New Orleans LA

2008

Revolution Reality

Revolution Reality is a comparative view of the design revolution of the 1960’s with the design realities of today. These parallels are observed through different topics present in both eras: Super Graphics, Transparency, Experience of Light, Tectonic Structures, Modular Thinking, Contemplative Fields and The Hand and The Machine.

Talk Locations: April 2010 Portland OR, September 2009 IIDA Event in New Jersey, August 2009 The Tuttleman Center, Philadelphia University, Philadelphia, PA, Carnegie Mellon Center, Pittsburgh. PA 2010, Singapore, Bangalore, Mumbai, Dehli, Singapore, KL, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo. 2009 Tandus Asia trip.

Thoughts

06/17/13

SUZANNE’S 2013 IIDA ACCEPTANCE SPEECH

Suzanne accepts the 2013 IIDA Titan Awards at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago on June 9th, 2013.

06/13/13

SUZANNE TICK’S SALVAGE ON VIEW AT GENSLER WASHINGTON D.C.

Suzanne Tick Salvage woven sculpture on view throughout summer 2013 at Gensler Washington D.C.

06/13/13

SHOTS FROM TEKNION TEXTILES SHOWROOM AT NEOCON 2013

TEKNION TEXTILES DESIGNED BY SUZANNE TICK IS A NEW BRAND OF TEXTILES AVAILABLE ON TEKNION FURNITURE AND FOR THE OPEN MARKET. SUZANNE'S FIRST COLLECTION FOR THE BRAND, SURFACE TENSION WON NEOCON GOLD FOR UPHOLSTERY. HERE ARE SOME SHOTS OF THE SHOWROOM AT NEOCON 2013.