photo by Grace DuVal
Jessamy Shay Kilcollins is a textile artist, educator, and sustainable fashion designer who uses secondhand materials and handcraft processes to interrogate the roles of consumption and consumerism in modern society. In addition to the one-of-a-kind creatively mended and upcycled garments she releases under her AMENDED label, she also crafts textile statement jewelry and intricate fabric collages from the fabric scraps generated in the garment mending and making process. She has taught mending and hand stitching at organizations that include Harvard Art Museums, the Farnsworth Art Museum, Patagonia, and the Boston and Cambridge Public Libraries. Jessamy holds a BFA in Fibers and a Certificate in Fashion Design from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. She also co-owns High Energy Vintage with her partner in Somerville MA. A Maine native, she splits her time between Somerville and Midcoast Maine.
EDUCATION
2019 Fashion Design Certificate, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston MA
2007 BFA Fibers, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston MA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Backstitch, 3S Artspace, Portsmouth NH
2024-2026 ArtWear: The Somerville Open Studios Fashion Show, Somerville MA
2023-2026 Somerville Open Studios First Look Exhibition, Somerville Museum, Somerville MA
2023 2023 Design Biennial, MassArt x SoWa, Boston MA
2020 Project Upcycle, 3S Artspace, Portsmouth NH
2016 Site-specific woven installation, Starlabfest Music & Arts Festival, Somerville MA
2012 Blank Land, Torrance Art Museum, Torrance CA
2007 Oh Nancy, Otherside Cafe, Boston MA
2005 Word of Mouth: Works on Paper, Rhys Gallery, Boston MA
SELECTED TEACHING ARTIST EXPERIENCE
2026 Sanborn Mills Farm, Loudon NH (upcoming)
2026 Artists Association of Nantucket, Nantucket MA
2025-Present Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland ME
2025 Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge MA
2024 Desert Weavers & Spinners Guild, Palm Springs, CA
2024-2025 Boston Public Library, Boston MA
2023-2024 Patagonia, Cambridge MA
2022-Present Somerville Public Library, Somerville MA
2022-2024 Eliot School of Fine & Applied Arts, Jamaica Plain MA
2022-Present Cambridge Public Library, Cambridge MA
AWARDS, GRANTS & RESIDENCIES
2025 Artist in Residence, Artists Association of Nantucket, Nantucket MA
2025 Fellowship - Visual Arts, Somerville Arts Council, Somerville MA
2020 Second Place, Project Upcycle, 3S Artspace, Portsmouth NH
RELATED EXPERIENCE
2025 Designer, Custom Museum of Science Boston Lab Coat for Rob Gronkowski
2023 Featured Speaker, Rags To Riches Textile Upcycling Summit
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Julie Mahdavi, “What’s hot is slow: Clothing-repair workshops and sewing kits are all around and selling out,” Cambridge Day, April 8, 2025. https://www.cambridgeday.com/2025/04/08/whats-hot-is-slow-clothing-repair-workshops-and-sewing-kits-are-all-around-and-selling-out/
Museum of Science, "Gronk Spike Gets a Physics Upgrade" YouTube [Video], August 28, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtG75WBDNy4
Sara Lang, “Make do and mend: As landfills grow, people opt for needle and thread,” Christian Science Monitor, March 3, 2023. https://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2023/0303/Make-do-and-mend-As-landfills-grow-people-opt-for-needle-and-thread