Rhode Island School of Design

Wishing the RISD community near and far a restful and happy holiday break. ✨💫⭐️

📷 Jo Sittenfeld MFA 08 PH

RISD Students Share Final Projects in Fall 2022 Critiques | RISD

As the semester came to a close, grads and undergrads in every department gathered constructive criticism for their inspiring work. Read more about final crits below!

RISD Students Share Final Projects in Fall 2022 Critiques | RISD At the end of each semester the Rhode Island School of Design community comes together for final critiques, a key element of RISD undergraduate and graduate degree programs.

RISD and UN DPPA Innovation Cell Present at World Creativity and Innovation Week - April 2022

What inspires us to think beyond our usual ways? How can physical objects stimulate our thinking toward peaceful solutions? Can we express the meaning of peace through objects?

The Innovation Cell in the United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (UN DPPA) partnered with the creative firm Altimeter Design Group and RISD in April 2022 to celebrate World Creativity and Innovation Week. In an effort to advance the UN's work on conflict prevention, peacemaking and peacebuilding, the group developed and presented a collection of one-of-a-kind, handmade objects to encourage imagination and give physical form to what, for example, the texture of resilience, the weight of dialogue or the movement of diplomacy could look like.

The initiative included interactive workshops that let UN staff members to explore in depth way how objects can shape our conception of peace. Altimeter was founded by Tom Weis MID 08, who led the work, alongside fellow alumni Emily Rothschild MID 08, Kate Dannessa 17 ID, Maria Alexia Platia 18 ID, Rives Matson 19 ID, Irina Wang MID 20, Megan Valanidas MID 18 and Brian Payne MID 16.

RISD and UN DPPA Innovation Cell Present at World Creativity and Innovation Week - April 2022 What inspires us to think beyond our usual ways? How can physical objects stimulate our thinking toward peaceful solutions? Can we express the meaning of pea...

RISD’s new Movement Lab provides a space for investigations of the social, cultural, ecological and expressive properties of movement through experimental research, active learning and exchange. The lab houses technologies to study and create movement, as well as a growing collaborative archive of works generated within it.

The Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation will generously fund two Movement Lab fellows, and RISD parent Cheryl Henson P 24 will provide support for a visiting puppeteer.
Learn more: https://bit.ly/3WfEtV1
Apply for the Movement Lab Fellowship: https://bit.ly/3WfrL8R

A Brief But Spectacular take on designing toys for kids

Industrial Design Department Head Khipra Nichols BID 78 designed toys at Hasbro for 20 years. Recently, he spoke with PBS to share the inspiration behind many of the toys he helped design.

A Brief But Spectacular take on designing toys for kids Toy designer Khipra Nichols has been helping make holiday wishes come true for kids for two decades. Rhode Island PBS Weekly producer Isabella Jibilian brings us Nichols' take on toy-making.

Alumni Labs | RISD Alumni

Alumni Labs is relevant, forward-looking content connected to RISD's incredible network of graduates. Open to RISD’s undergraduate and graduate alumni, all Alumni Labs courses will leverage the perspectives and skills of student participants, instructors and alumni guest speakers/critics to create a holistic experience that allows cohorts to explore topics from a variety of angles.

Learn more and register today by visiting alumni.risd.edu/alumni-labs.

RISD Alumni Relations RISD Continuing Education

Alumni Labs | RISD Alumni In this section Register today About Alumni Labs Request information Alumni Labs Winter Courses Run from January 21–March 3, 2023 HURRY! Winter registration closes on January 18, 2023 Spring Semester 1 Courses Run from March 4–April 14, 2023 Spring Semester 2 Courses Run from April 22–June 2, ...

RISD’s First Illustration MFA Students Show the Medium’s Potential for Social Impact

The Illustration department’s new graduate program aims to transform the field by inspiring self-authorship and social engagement.

“The curriculum allows grads to consider deeply the often-overlooked impact illustration has had on society, enabling them to become thoughtful practitioners with a sense of agency.”—Department Head Eric Telfort

RISD’s First Illustration MFA Students Show the Medium’s Potential for Social Impact RISD | In a newly launched two-year advanced studio program, illustration MFA students are honing their critical perspectives and visual literacy to become agents of social change.

RISD Limited Editions | RISD Alumni

RISD Limited Editions 2022, featuring limited-run offset lithographs from pioneering alumni artists Shahzia Sikander MFA 95 PT/PR and Huma Bhabha 85 PR this year's sale marks the first RISD Limited Editions collaboration with master printmakers Pace Prints.

Learn more about the sale and this year’s featured works below.

RISD Limited Editions | RISD Alumni In this section View and purchase these prints Read the press release RISD Limited Editions Now available, this year’s RISD Limited Editions features exclusive prints by internationally renowned alumni artists Shahzia Sikander MFA 95 PT/PR and Huma Bhabha 85 PR. View and purchase these prints This...

Alums Offer Advice at Annual RISD Career Center Event | RISD

Alums Kelly Walters, Alexander Williams and Qualeasha Wood speak about their post-RISD journeys as part of the risd/careers/ annual Mindshare lecture series.

Alums Offer Advice at Annual RISD Career Center Event | RISD Rhode Island School of Design Alums Kelly Walters, Alexander Williams and Qualeasha Wood speak about their career journeys at Mindshare, an annual Career Center lecture series.

Rhode Island PBS Weekly | Window on Rhode Island: The Nature Lab | Season 3 | Episode 49 | Rhode Island PBS

The Edna Lawrence Nature Lab has served as inspiration for countless students. Rhode Island PBS recently visited as part of the continuing series, Window on Rhode Island.

Rhode Island PBS Weekly | Window on Rhode Island: The Nature Lab | Season 3 | Episode 49 | Rhode Island PBS Explore RISD’s Nature Lab, where unusual creatures are the norm.

RISD Interior Architecture Students Reimagine RI’s Pell Bridge | RISD

Students studying exhibition design in RISD’s Interior Architecture department are picking up where the Class of 2021 left off and using state-of-the-art technology to bring to life visions of a pedestrian-and bike-friendly Claiborne Pell Bridge.

Earlier this month a public exhibition held with Bike Newport, RI invited visitors to ride stationary bicycles or walk while wearing VR headsets. The experience allowed participants to see what it would feel like to cross the iconic 2.1-mile span without a car.

RISD Interior Architecture Students Reimagine RI’s Pell Bridge | RISD Students in RISD’s Interior Architecture department use AR/VR tech to show concepts for a pedestrian- and bike-friendly Pell Bridge at exhibition in Newport, RI.

RISD Architecture Students Share Ideas with What Cheer Flower Farm | RISD

Providence’s What Cheer Flower Farm served as a real-world client for this fall’s RISD Architecture "Integrated Building Systems" studio. Each student team focused on a different key material—like concrete or wood—and considered such site conditions as sun and wind as they created plans that incorporated sustainable features like green roofs, rainwater collection systems, solar energy panels and other Passive House energy-efficiency strategies.

RISD Architecture Students Share Ideas with What Cheer Flower Farm | RISD The Providence-based nonprofit What Cheer Flower Farm served as a client for a Rhode Island School of Design Architecture studio focused on sustainability.

RISD Sophomores Make Interactive Works in Sculpture Studio | RISD

Sophomores in a fall Sculpture studio make work that invites the viewer to physically engage with it.

RISD Sophomores Make Interactive Works in Sculpture Studio | RISD RISD Sculpture department faculty member Matt King leads a fall studio that encouraged students to consider taboos of the art and museum world.

RISD students create VR experience to walk, bike across Newport Bridge

Rhode Island School of Design and Bike Newport, RI present "Crossing the Pell," a virtual reality exhibition in Newport December 3rd and 4th.

The experience will allow visitors to immerse themselves within each of four visions for a Pell Bridge of the future with access for bikers and pedestrians.

The interactive exhibition will be open to the public at the Old Colony House on Newport’s Washington Square on Saturday, December 3 from 10 am–5 pm and on Sunday, December 4 from 10 am–3 pm. Learn more below via WPRI 12

RISD students create VR experience to walk, bike across Newport Bridge RISD students have turned blueprints of futuristic versions of the Newport Pell Bridge into virtual reality experiences.

Students Make Eco-Conscious Art in Fall 2022 RISD Studio | RISD

Students in “Visual Stories of Natural Histories,” a studio funded by the US Department of State’s Art in Embassies, US Department of State program, recently got encouraging critique from returning alum and wildlife artist Walton Ford 82 FAV.

Jean Blackburn 79 PT and Lucy Spelman are teaming up this semester to teach the studio that straddles the Illustration and History, Philosophy and the Social Sciences departments. The studio is focused on using visual storytelling to demonstrate how human societies impact natural systems.

Students Make Eco-Conscious Art in Fall 2022 RISD Studio | RISD Faculty members Jean Blackburn and Lucy Spelman put a visual spin on scientific research, with an assist from RISD alum, wildlife artist Walton Ford.

Congratulations to Urvi Sharma 17 FD and Anna Weyant 17 PT on being named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 in the Art & Style category.

Urvi Sharma: http://bit.ly/3EPoOo0
Cofounder, INDO-
Indian-American furniture designer Urvi Sharma's brand INDO- blends traditional techniques with contemporary design.

Anna Weyant: http://bit.ly/3XMbpWf
Artist
Canadian painter Anna Weyant's work features uncanny paintings of women and girls. By May 2022, she had held three sold-out shows and become the youngest artist signed to Gagosian.

See the full list of this year's Forbes Under 30: https://www.forbes.com/30-under-30/2023/

Huma Bhabha and Shahzia Sikander | Pace Prints

RISD Limited Editions 2022 are now available.

Featuring limited-run offset lithographs from pioneering alumni artists Shahzia Sikander MFA 95 PT/PR and Huma Bhabha 85 PR this year's sale marks the first RISD Limited Editions collaboration with master printmakers Pace Prints Pace Prints

Learn more about the sale and this year’s featured works below and at alumni.risd.edu/limited-editions.

Huma Bhabha and Shahzia Sikander | Pace Prints Pace Prints is proud to partner with the Rhode Island School of Design’s (RISD) on the second RISD Limited Editions Sale. The 2022 RISD Limited Editions by Huma Bhabha and Shahzia Sikander will be available exclusively here on paceprints.com beginning Monday November 28, at 11am New York time. Hum...

RISD Students Explore Accessible Home Design in Fall 22 Seminar | RISD

Students in "Design and Domesticity," a fall seminar led by Associate Professor Eric Anderson, are studying the evolution of universal design and learning about RISD’s important contributions to its development and specifically about the pioneering practice of longtime Industrial Design Professor Marc Harrison.

RISD Students Explore Accessible Home Design in Fall 22 Seminar | RISD Associate Professor Eric Anderson and students explore historically significant work by former Rhode Island School of Design faculty members and students.

Lakota Artist Dyani White Hawk Speaks at RISD about Work of Indigenous Women | RISD

Visiting artist Dyani White Hawk (Sičáŋǧu Lakota), the latest speaker in RISD’s Indigenous and First Nations Artist Series, recently visited campus and discussed her own abstract work honoring generations of strong Indigenous women.

Lakota Artist Dyani White Hawk Speaks at RISD about Work of Indigenous Women | RISD RISD's Center for Social Equity and Inclusion and Painting and Textiles departments hosted White Hawk as part of ongoing Indigenous and First Nations Artist Series on campus.

Rhode Island School of Design and Bike Newport, RI present "Crossing the Pell," a virtual reality exhibition in Newport December 3rd and 4th. The experience will allow visitors to immerse themselves within each of four visions for a Pell Bridge of the future with access for bikers and pedestrians.

The interactive exhibition will be open to the public at the Old Colony House on Newport’s Washington Square on Saturday, December 3 from 10 am–5 pm and on Sunday, December 4 from 10 am–3 pm. Learn more: http://bit.ly/3i2V9zD

Credit: Jo Sittenfeld MFA 08 PH

RISD Students Merge Ceramics and Print in Interdisciplinary Studio | RISD

Students in a fall Ceramics studio led by Associate Professor Lesley Baker are introducing printmaking techniques into their work.

“The combination of ceramic and print technologies has tremendous potential for new applications. We’ve been focusing in recent weeks on creating monoprints on paper and then transferring those images onto objects before firing them in the kiln.”—Associate Professor Lesley Baker

RISD Students Merge Ceramics and Print in Interdisciplinary Studio | RISD Rhode Island School of Design Associate Professor Lesley Baker encourages students to experiment in fall 2022 Ceramics studio.

The Collaborative Studio Reimagining Lighting Design

Felicia Hung 13 FD and Nicholas Ozemba 13 FD of In Common With are breaking fresh ground with an expanded Brooklyn headquarters and a fantastical new collection.

The Collaborative Studio Reimagining Lighting Design Known for its endlessly customizable fixtures, In Common With is breaking fresh ground with an expanded Brooklyn headquarters and a fantastical new collection.

SEI Research Fellow Nichole Rustin Taps into RISD’s Creative Energy | RISD

SEI Research Fellow Nichole Rustin engages RISD students in contemporary political questions and develops their skills as liberal arts scholars.

SEI Research Fellow Nichole Rustin Taps into RISD’s Creative Energy | RISD The Social Equity and Inclusion Research Fellow incorporates her research on race, gender, sound, jazz and more to drive her liberal arts classes at RISD.

RISD Project Open Door Students Explore Jewelry + Metalsmithing | RISD

RISD’s Jewelry + Metalsmithing department collaborates with Project Open Door to offer young artists the first on-campus studio of its kind.

RISD Project Open Door Students Explore Jewelry + Metalsmithing | RISD Supported by RISD’s Teaching and Learning in Art and Design department, 12 Project Open Door high school students work in the college’s Jewelry + Metalsmithing studios.

RISD Landscape Architecture Design-Build Studio Spurs Collaboration | RISD

First-year Landscape Architecture students learn valuable skills of the trade by collaborating on an observation deck at Tillinghast Farm.

RISD Landscape Architecture Design-Build Studio Spurs Collaboration | RISD Rhode Island School of Design faculty members Elizabeth Hermann and Gavin Zeitz lead hands-on studio at RISD’s Tillinghast Farm campus.

There is still time to catch the risd:store Halloween sidewalk sale! Today, October 31 until 7 pm. Monster savings—up to 75% off select items while supplies last.

The ghostly window mural was designed and created by local artist and fantastic risd:store sales associate Vic Mendelson!

More details at: www.risdstore.com

RISD Architecture Grad Course Inspires Experimentation Across Fields | RISD

First-year grad students in RISD’s Master’s in Architecture program are borrowing tools and techniques such as photogrammetry from other disciplines to better represent their visions for the built environment.

“This intentional vagueness, coupled with a general willingness to co-opt various technologies, means that architects routinely experiment with the act of making as a form of making discourse.”—Assistant Professor Cara Liberatore

RISD Architecture Grad Course Inspires Experimentation Across Fields | RISD Rhode Island School of Design Assistant Professor Cara Liberatore challenges students to think about digital forms of representation in extra-disciplinary ways.

Investiture of RISD's 18th president Crystal Williams — New Space(s) Inauguration — October 7, 2022

The community recently came together to celebrate the inauguration of RISD's 18th president, Crystal Williams. Watch the investiture ceremony below and read President Williams' inaugural address here: https://risd.cc/3N62nOU

Investiture of RISD's 18th president Crystal Williams — New Space(s) Inauguration — October 7, 2022 https://risd.edu/new-spaceshttps://www.risd.edu/about/leadership/about-crystal-williams

A new RISD rebrand places a family of custom typefaces and a redrawn seal at its centre

New brand identity created in collaboration with Gretel, ON ROAD and custom typefaces by Ryan Bugden reflects RISD's vision, values and priorities.

A new RISD rebrand places a family of custom typefaces and a redrawn seal at its centre Informed by interviews with faculty members, students and young creatives, the rebrand adopts a flexible type system and a simplified seal that enhances its hand-crafted quality.

RISD and Grist Magazine bring Imagine 2020 Judges Panel to Campus | RISD

Recently, the judges panel for creative writing contest 'Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors' spoke on campus.

Hosted by RISD’s Liberal Arts division and organized by grad student Rini Singhi MA 23 NCSS and Associate Professor Sean Nesselrode Moncada, the event highlighted the second annual competition put on by Fix, Grist Magazine’s Solutions Lab.

RISD and Grist Magazine bring Imagine 2020 Judges Panel to Campus | RISD RISD’s Nature–Culture–Sustainability Studies program hosts authors Sheree Renée Thomas and Arkady Martine to discuss Grist’s annual climate fiction writing contest with Creative Manager Tory Stephens.

RISD Hosts New Space(s) Symposium during Inauguration Weekend | RISD

In early October, RISD celebrated the inauguration of President Crystal Williams with a two-day symposium exploring notions of space in the world of art and design that amplified the voices of faculty, staff, alumni and visiting scholars working in a wide array of disciplines.

RISD Hosts New Space(s) Symposium during Inauguration Weekend | RISD The two-day symposium helped mark the inauguration of Crystal Williams as RISD’s 18th president.

RISD Officially Welcomes New President Crystal Williams | RISD

The community comes together to celebrate the inauguration of RISD's 18th president, Crystal Williams, with a two-day symposium, open studios, RISD Craft art sale and more.

RISD Officially Welcomes New President Crystal Williams | RISD RISD faculty, staff, alumni and students come together to witness the historic investiture ceremony and celebrate the President Crystal Williams’ inauguration.

RISD Glass Studio Merges Making and Performance | RISD

Students in a fall Glass studio taught by Sean Salstrom use movement and choreography as a starting point for experimentation.

RISD Glass Studio Merges Making and Performance | RISD A RISD Glass department class led by Assistant Professor Sean Salstrom takes a liberating approach to working with molten glass, with an assist from visiting acting coach Caleb Hammond.

Best things to do in R.I. this week: Oct. 7-14 - The Boston Globe

RISD Craft: Fall 2022 is today [10/8], 10 am–4 pm on Benefit Street! Discover handmade fine art and design work at our annual juried sale featuring work by more than 130 alumni and students.

Best things to do in R.I. this week: Oct. 7-14 - The Boston Globe The Ocean State Oyster Festival is back, “Wheel of Fortune LIVE” hits the PPAC, and RISD welcomes its new president with free events all weekend.

Inauguration Weekend is here! Join us in celebrating October 7–8, beginning with the historic investiture of RISD’s 18th president, Crystal Williams, followed by a series of public events and panels. RISD alumni, faculty and changemakers will lead the conversation exploring the concept of new spaces in art, design, history, pedagogy, social justice and community.

The celebration continues with the RISD Craft art sale, open studios, free admission to the RISD Museum, discount at the RISD Store and more.

See the full schedule and watch the investiture live starting at 10 am on 10/7 at: risd.edu/new-spaces.