Rhode Island School of Design

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The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD Template:IPAc-en, pronounced "Riz-D"<ref name="AIR">Template:Cite web</ref>) is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase the accessibility of design education to women.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Today, RISD offers bachelor's and master's degree programs across 19 majors and enrolls approximately 2,000 undergraduate and 500 graduate students.<ref name="Enrollment" /> The Rhode Island School of Design Museum—which houses the school's art and design collections—is one of the largest college art museums in the United States.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Rhode Island School of Design is affiliated with Brown University, whose campus sits immediately adjacent to RISD's on Providence's College Hill. The two institutions share social and community resources and since 1900 have permitted cross-registration.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Together, RISD and Brown offer dual degree programs at the graduate and undergraduate levels. As of 2024, RISD alumni have received 11 MacArthur Fellowships, 9 Emmy Awards, 7 Guggenheim Fellowships, and 3 Academy Awards.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

Founding of the school

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The Venetian Renaissance Waterman Building (1893) was the first permanent home for the school.

The Rhode Island School of Design's founding is often traced back to Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf's 1876 visit to the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. At the exposition, Metcalf visited the Women's Pavilion. Organized by the "Centennial Women," the pavilion showcased the work of female entrepreneurs, artists, and designers.<ref>Austin, Nancy. "Towards a Genealogy of Visual Culture at the Rhode Island School of Design, 1875–1900". Dissertation, Brown University. Ann Arbor: ProQuest/UMI, 2009. (Publication No. 3370099.)</ref><ref name="Grzyb-2014">Template:Cite book</ref> Metcalf's visit to the pavilion profoundly impacted her and motivated her to address a deficiency in design education accessible to women.

Following the exhibition, the RI committee of the Centennial Women had $1,675 remaining in funds; the group spent some time negotiating how best to use the surplus.<ref name="Austin-2008">Austin, Nancy. "What a Beginning is Worth". Infinite Radius. Ed. Dawn Barrett and Andrew Martinez. (Providence: Rhode Island School of Design, 2008) 170–196.</ref> Metcalf lobbied the group to use the money to establish a coeducational, design school in Providence. On January 11, 1877, a majority of women on the committee voted for Metcalf's proposal.<ref name="Grzyb-2014" />

File:George W Carr House, Providence RI.jpg
The 1885 Dr. George W. Carr House houses a student cafe and lounge.

On March 22, 1877, the Rhode Island General Assembly ratified "An Act to Incorporate the Rhode Island School of Design", "[f]or the purpose of aiding in the cultivation of the arts of design". Over the next 129 years, the following original by-laws set forth these following primary objectives:<ref>Austin, Nancy. "No Honors to Divide". Infinite Radius. Ed. Dawn Barrett and Andrew Martinez. (Providence: Rhode Island School of Design, 2008) 197–217.</ref>

File:Rhode Island Hospital Trust Building, 2021 (cropped).jpg
The Rhode Island Hospital Trust Building houses dormitories and the school's Fleet Library.
  1. The instruction of artisans in drawing, painting, modeling, and designing, that they may successfully apply the principles of Art to the requirements of trade and manufacture.
  2. The systematic training of students in the practice of Art, in order that they may understand its principles, give instruction to others, or become artists.
  3. The general advancement of public Art Education, by the exhibition of works of Art and of Art school studies, and by lectures on Art.

Metcalf directed the school until her death in 1895. Her daughter, Eliza Greene Metcalf Radeke, then took over until her own death in 1931.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Beginnings

The school opened in October 1877 in Providence. The first class consisted of 43 students, the majority of whom were women.<ref name="Grzyb-2014" /><ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref>

For the first 15 years of its existence, RISD occupied a suite of six rooms on the fourth floor of the Hoppin Homestead Building in Downtown Providence. On October 24, 1893, the school dedicated a new brick building at 11 Waterman Street on College Hill. Designed by Hoppin, Read & Hoppin, this building served as the first permanent home for the school.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Activism during the Vietnam War

Students at RISD played a key part in the national protest of the Vietnam War, producing various notable anti-war protest art from 1968–1973 and taking several on tour as part of a mobile artwork petition. The most well known is Leave the Fear of Red to Horned Beasts, a reference to Victor Hugo novel Les Misérables in the form of a watercolor-on-canvas painting of a charging red bull. An original print of this painting is on permanent display at the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in a section dedicated to international protest of the Vietnam War, and also features subtly as a bar mural in the Vietnam War film Point Man.

In 1969 the Black Student Community of RISD published a manifesto demanding of university faculty the establishment of "a meaningful liaison with the spirit and expression of Black culture."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> RISD subsequently hired administrators to begin recruiting and admitting increased numbers of students of color.

COVID-19

After the outbreak of COVID-19 and the subsequent closure of the RISD campus in March 2020,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> RISD suggested a future of a hybrid of classes online and in-person.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In July 2020, President Somerson began negotiations with the RISD faculty union over the avoidance of possible layoffs by suggesting cost-cutting measures.<ref name="Borg-2020">Template:Cite web</ref> The part-time faculty union, the National Education Association, rejected the initial proposal.<ref name="Borg-2020" />

Racial diversity and equity

In the summer of 2020, after the Black Lives Matter and George Floyd protests, RISD students and alumni came forward to voice outrage at the institution for failing at social equity and inclusion.<ref name="Fitzpatrick-2020">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="The Architect's Newspaper-2020">Template:Cite web</ref> They formed a student-led RISD Anti-Racism Coalition (ARC) alongside BIPOC faculty.<ref name="Fitzpatrick-2020" /><ref name="The Architect's Newspaper-2020" /> As a result, in July 2020, RISD announced they would hire 10 new faculty members that would specialize in "race and ethnicity in arts and design", the RISD museum would return to Nigeria a sculpture that was once looted, expand and diversify the curriculum, and the school would, "remain committed to reform".<ref name="Fitzpatrick-2020" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Labor strike

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Striking workers and supporters in April 2023

In April 2023, after months of negotiations, the RISD employees union held a picket line protest in demand of better wages. The union, which represents custodians, groundskeepers and movers, was joined in the strike by student supporters and community members.<ref name="Fish">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="TAN">Template:Cite news</ref> The strike lasted two weeks, until workers approved a new contract and returned to work April 19.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Pro-Palestine solidarity

Template:See also Some students at RISD, along with many across the country in the BDS movement, occupied a campus building for multiple days in support of a cease-fire of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in early May 2024.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Presidents

Template:Main RISD's current president is Crystal Williams. She was preceded by Rosanne Somerson who served in the role from 2015 to 2021.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Rankings and admission

In 2014, U.S. News & World Report ranked RISD first amongst fine arts programs nationwide.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2020, graduate programs in Graphic Design, Painting, Sculpture, and Photography, among others, were ranked in the top 5 nationally, however, in 2023, RISD announced its withdrawal from the rankings, citing its inability to accurately assess art and design education, while also running counter to principles of social equity and inclusion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The school's undergraduate architecture program ranked 6 in DesignIntelligence's ranking of the Top Architecture Schools in the US for 2019.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2018, the institution was also named among ForbesTemplate:' America's Top Colleges<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the Chronicle of Higher EducationTemplate:'s Top Producers of US Fulbright Scholars.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

RISD's acceptance rate is 13.8% (2024).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In August 2019, the school announced it would be adopting a test-optional policy for admissions.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Campus

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A salon-style gallery of paintings in the RISD Museum

In the past, RISD buildings were mostly located at the western edge of College Hill, between the Brown University campus and the Providence River. In recent decades, RISD has acquired or built buildings on the downslope nearer the river, or in Downtown Providence just on the other side of the waterway. The main library, undergrad dormitories, and graduate studios of the college are now located downtown.<ref name="SW">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp<ref name="CampusMap">Template:Cite web</ref>

RISD Museum

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The Chace Center contains both exhibition and studio space.

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The RISD Museum was founded in 1877 on the belief that art, artists, and the institutions that support them play pivotal roles in promoting broad civic engagement and creating more open societies. With a permanent collection numbering approximately 100,000 works, the RISD museum is the third largest art museum attached to an educational facility.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Athletics

RISD has many athletic clubs and teams.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The hockey team is called the "Nads", and their cheer is "Go Nads!"<ref name="oddee.com">Template:Cite web</ref> The logo for the Nads features a horizontal hockey stick with two hockey pucks at the end of the stick's handle.

The basketball team is known simply as "The Balls", and their slogan is, "When the heat is on, the Balls stick together!"<ref name="oddee.com"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Balls' logo consists of two balls next to one another in an irregularly shaped net.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Lest the sexual innuendo of these team names and logos be lost or dismissed, the 2001 creation of the school's unofficial mascot, Scrotie, ended any ambiguity. Despite the name, Scrotie is not merely a representation of a scrotum, but is a 7-foot tall penis.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The school's color is a vivid blue.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Notable people

Alumni

Template:Main Notable RISD alumni include Roni Horn (BFA 1975), Jenny Holzer (MFA 1977),<ref name="Jenny Holzer">Jenny Holzer Template:Webarchive Tate Collection, London.</ref> Glenn Ligon (attended 1978–80),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Nicole Eisenman (BFA 1987),<ref name="vielmetter">Template:Cite web</ref> Janine Antoni (MFA 1989),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Do-Ho Suh (BFA 1994),<ref name="Lehmann Maupin">Template:Cite web</ref> Kara Walker (MFA 1994),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Shahzia Sikander (MFA 1995), Julie Mehretu (MFA 1997),<ref name="tomkins">Calvin Tomkins (March 29, 2010). "Big Art, Big Money: Julie Mehretu's 'Mural' for Goldman Sachs Template:Webarchive". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2017-08-04.</ref> Sam Hyde (BFA 2007), Ryan Trecartin (BFA 2004),<ref name="fitch">Template:Cite web</ref> Rose B. Simpson (MFA 2011),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Daniela Lalita (BFA 2014)<ref> Two sources:

Among the school's alumni in illustration are Brian Selznick (BFA 1988),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Chris Van Allsburg (MA 1975), Roz Chast (BFA 1977), and David Macaulay (BArch 1969).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Alumni in graphic design include Shepard Fairey (BFA 1992),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Tobias Frere-Jones (BFA 1992),<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and Pippin Frisbie-Calder (BFA 2008).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Among the alumni of the school's architecture department are Hashim Sarkis (BArch 1987)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Deborah Berke (BFA 1975, BArch 1977),<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref> Preston Scott Cohen (BArch 1983),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Nader Tehrani (BArch 1986).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Prominent RISD graduates in film include James Franco (MFA 2012),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Seth MacFarlane (BFA 1995),<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Jemima Kirke (BFA 2008),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Bryan Konietzko (BFA 1998),<ref name=Avatar>Template:Cite web</ref> Michael Dante DiMartino (BFA 1996),<ref name=Avatar /> Gus Van Sant (BFA 1975),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Robert Richardson (BFA 1979).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Graduates in music include bassist Syd Butler (BFA 1996) and two founding members of Talking Heads: Tina Weymouth (BFA 1974) and Chris Frantz (BFA 1974);<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Talking Heads' other founder, David Byrne, is also a RISD alumnus and met Weymouth and Frantz at the art school, but left before graduation.

Among the school's alumni in business are Airbnb co-founders Joe Gebbia (BFA 2004) and Brian Chesky (BFA 2004).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Faculty

Notable RISD faculty include photographers Diane Arbus, Aaron Siskind, and Elle Pérez, sculptor Simone Leigh, painters Jennifer Packer, Aaron Gilbert, and Angela Dufresne, architect Friedrich St. Florian, designers Victor Papanek and Pierre Kleykamp, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Rockwell King DuMoulin was a professor and architecture department chair from 1972 to 1978.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

References

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