The
Rhode Island School of Design (abbreviated
RISD, ) is a
fine arts and design college located in
Providence, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1877 and is located at the base of
College Hill and contiguous with the
Brown University campus. The two institutions share social, academic, and community resources and offer joint courses. Applicants are required to complete RISD's infamous three-drawing "hometest", one of which involves the trademark RISD bicycle. The school consistently ranks as the number one fine arts college in the United States, and is widely perceived as an Ivy League equivalent in art schools.
The school includes about 350 faculty and curators, and 400 staff members. About 1,880 undergraduates and 370 graduate students enroll from all over the United States and 50 other countries. It offers 16 undergraduate majors and 17 graduate majors. RISD is a member of the
Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD), a consortium of thirty-six leading art schools in the United States. It also maintains over 80,000 works of art in the
RISD Museum.
In May 2006 the RISD Board of Trustees approved this
mission statement:
History
The Centennial Women (Co-founded by Michael Park and Christopher Rozman) were a group formed to raise funds for Rhode Island's exhibit at the
Centennial Exposition in 1876. The group had $1,675 left over after the exposition, and, inspired by foreign exhibits on design and interior decorating,
Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf persuaded the group to donate the money to found what would become the Rhode Island School of Design. The school was incorporated in 1877 and opened its doors the following fall. Metcalf directed the school until her death in 1895. Her daughter, Eliza Greene Metcalf Radeke, then took over until her death in 1931.
The
Rhode Island General Assembly ratified “An Act to Incorporate the Rhode Island School of Design” on
March 22,
1877. “For 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:
First. 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.
Second. 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.
Third. The general advancement of public Art Education, by the exhibition of works of Art and of Art school studies, and by lectures on Art.
Programs of Study
Concentrations
Concentrations at RISD do not confer a degree, they act as minors and require extra courses in the chosen field.
Architecture
Architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design is headed by Department Chair
Lynnette Widder.
The first year program was designed by faculty member
Kyna Leski.
Undergraduate, graduate, and landscape architecture students share studios and coursework through the first year of study.
Full-time faculty include:
- Lynnette Widder, Department Head / Associate Professor
- Kyna Leski, Graduate Program Coordinator / Professor
- Christopher Bardt, Professor
- Hansy Luz Better, Assistant Professor
- Jonathan Knowles, Assistant Professor
- Enrique Martinez, Assistant Professor
The architecture department is housed in the
Bayard Ewing Building.
Athletics
Athletics are not the focus of campus life but do provide a rare sense of school spirit. RISD sports have fluctuated over the years with the RISD archives containing photos of football, baseball, and basketball teams spanning the very early 20th century. Yearbooks and alumni reveal the RISD Student Association funded basketball teams throughout the 1950s and 1960s that were called the '
Nads'. An ice hockey team formed soon after using the same name, '
Nads'. The ice hockey team played through the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s with little record of other athletics. In 2000, a new basketball team was formed under the name '
Balls' to complement the ice hockey team, each with its own slogan: "When the heat is on, the
Balls stick together", and "Go
Nads" (deliberately sounding like "
gonads"). Currently, these are the two most active and organized sports teams at RISD, with basketball the only sport played at varsity-level competition. Together, both teams provide a rally ground for students, faculty, administration, and staff alike.
Intramural level teams round out the offering in rock climbing, men's and women's soccer, volleyball, frisbee, flag football, skiing and snowboarding.
In 2001, the Nads created the infamous, and unofficial mascot, "Scrotie," a man-sized
penis wearing a red cape. RISD students claim
Cooper Union and
Pratt Institute as their archrivals in sporting events, and the two hold an annual basketball match in both Providence and New York.
Notable alumni
Notable current and past faculty
Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts conferred
Commencement speaker indicated by *
2009
2008
2007
2005
2004
2003
2002
1993
1992
1988
1987
1986
1983
- Beatrice (Oenslager) Chace
Unknown Year
