Often, a Lander University education leads graduates to new and exciting career opportunities they never expected.
Such is the case for Dia Robinson, who graduated from Lander with a communication degree, and obtained a Master of Science in Higher Education - Student Affairs from Fort Hays State University. She harnessed her creativity and passion for teaching to create Twisted Urban Fiber Arts, where she focuses on textile education and learning development. Her work centers on teaching fiber processes, especially structured color blending techniques, to help students create original work and build confidence through fiber arts.
Robinson is a Greenville native and has been recently awarded the Emerging Artist Grant by the South Carolina Arts Commission. She is one of seven recipients across the state to be awarded this coveted grant for her forthcoming piece Lineage in Fiber. This portrait will explore legacy, identity and connection to her grandmothers, who both worked in South Carolina textile mills. The portrait will be comprised of approximately 62,000 quarter-inch squares of 100 percent hand-dyed wool, and will be accomplished using needle felting. When asked why she chose this medium and technique, she spoke on the symbolism of the medium. “Needle felting each of the 62,000 squares is about showing that we are not made up of one thing, but many things. Each part helps shape and mold us into who we are,” she said.
Pictured is Robinson’s “Fiber Mosaic.” Contributed photo
Although Robinson struggles to share a “favorite piece,” one she’s particularly fond of is “Fiber Mosaic.” This is her largest piece to date, measuring 4.5 ft by 4.5 ft. It is made up of 9,900 needle-felted squares, each a half inch in size. She hand-dyed and processed about 95 percent of the wool used in the color palette. This piece was a turning point for Robinson. She claims, “It gave me permission to take on large-scale work and to fully commit to ideas that are bold, complex and time intensive. It was the moment I said yes to doing work that challenges me and expands what I thought I could create”.
Her work in the art world expands far beyond creation. Robinson has taught fiber art classes on the national level. She has presented at the 2025 Mid-Atlantic Fiber Arts Conference, the Mid-Atlantic Fiber Arts Virtual Conference (2021), Maryland Sheep and Wool’s 2022 Online Winterfest, and Long Thread Media’s 2022 SOAR Conference.
She also spends her time as a mental health advocate and believes her art and advocacy go hand-in-hand. She first began fiber arts when dealing with a personal illness and found comfort in the physicality of fiber art. This is the exact reason why teaching is so important to her; it gave her structure and purpose which she hopes to pass on to others.
To view more of her work, please visit www.twistedurban.com, or for more information on this year’s Emerging Artist Grantees, please visit www.southcarolinaarts.com.
Check out all the degree programs offered by Lander’s College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences by visiting www.lander.edu/cohass.