To give back to the Hudson Valley community, 21 senior fashion design students at Marist College have created one-of-a-kind t-shirts inspired by their capstone collection and donated each to the Friends of the Walkway. These works of art are part of the groundbreaking Marist x Walkway collaboration and are currently up for auction at walkway.org/maristauction.

Proceeds from the auction not only nurture the development of a burgeoning artist who studied in the Hudson Valley, they support the Friends of the Walkway and our mission to continue transformative construction projects like the East Gate Plaza in Poughkeepsie, add amenities to the park, host free or low-cost family-friendly events, and much more.

All t-shirts open at $25 with $5 bid increments. Each piece is accompanied by the name of the designer and the inspiration behind it. An $8 premium will be applied to all purchases to cover postage and handling.

“We’re grateful to the talented designers at Marist College for donating their art to the Friends of the Walkway,” said Elizabeth Waldstein, Executive Director, Friends of the Walkway. “We’re excited to be able to offer people the chance to own these unique pieces that were created just steps from the bridge and in many cases inspired by it.”

“It’s a tremendously rare opportunity to be able to own a one-of-a-kind piece from any designer,” said Jennifer Finn, Department Chair, Marist Fashion Program. “I’m proud of the quality of work our senior fashion designers produced and pleased that proceeds will benefit a local institution like Walkway Over the Hudson that is so much a part of the fabric of life at Marist College.”

The auction is the latest extension of the Marist x Walkway partnership, which earlier this year debuted a collection of items designed and produced by a team of Marist College students. To learn more about the partnership and see additional items still available for purchase, visit walkway.org/marist.

The Fashion Program at Marist successfully prepares its students to enter the world of fashion. Students gain skills, knowledge, and internship experience within an encouraging academic environment to help them flourish in the fashion industry. Featuring a comprehensive curriculum leading to a Bachelor of Science Degree for Fashion Merchandising or a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree for Fashion Design, Marist is top ranked among fashion programs globally by the industry publication, Business of Fashion.

Marist x Walkway is the latest in a long line of key partnerships between the two organizations. When Walkway Over the Hudson opened in 2009, the college designed and hosted its first website.  Marist also provided vital assistance in translating Walkway’s audio tours known as Talkways into Spanish, Mandarin, and Italian, among many other projects.