I had the chance to meet with RISD alum Tae Ashida at her studio in Tokyo on my recent Asia trip. Tae’s elegant couture collections known as Miss Ashida are ambitious and inspired explorations in form, pattern, and personality. What impressed me most in my chat with Tae was her ability to speak to the confluence of international culture, emerging business opportunities, the importance of education, and in an especially loving way about her experience at RISD. In many Japanese periodicals Tae speaks of her alma mater – written here in Japanese as “ロードアイランド造形大学” – I think I feel a new Japanese T-shirt coming on. Be sure to catch Tae’s new upcoming collections! -JM

I received a postcard from Zio Ziegler who has started a new business in Mill Valley, CA. In the event that you are anywhere near 87 E Blithedale then you know where to go! -JM

Earlier this year when designer Andrea Valentini ’95 IA was invited to direct the Gail Cahalan Gallery at Conley’s Wharf in Providence, she jumped at the opportunity – not only because it came with great studio/gallery/showroom space for her own business, but because she immediately thought of showing RISD student work there.

An award-winning designer, Andrea creates sculptural textiles, bags, jewelry and lighting, transforming industrial materials into sensual functional objects. Last week, when she re-opened Andrea Valentini for business at the Cahalan space, she mounted her first exhibition there, too – featuring works by two recent Painting graduates, Annabeth Marks ’09 PT (that’s a painting by Annabeth) and Hugh Zeigler ’09 PT.

Called simply LAUNCH, the student exhibition space was conceived “to help graduating students transition from the campus to the community” by introducing their work to a regional audience, Andrea explains. “As a student, I can remember desperately wanting to exhibit in a real art gallery,” she added in an article in The Providence Journal. “My hope is that LAUNCH will be that kind of place for today’s RISD students.”

A portion of the proceeds from gallery sales will go to a new RISD scholarship fund known as a “RISH come true” (the acronym stands for Rhode Island High School Students), which will help Rhode Islanders attending RISD. The show at 200 Allens Avenue can be seen Tuesday through Saturday from 11am to 6pm through August 7 or by appointment.

Last week I stopped by Cheil – the largest advertising company in Korea – to see Nack Hoi Kim. It’s amazing to see how Mr. Kim is inventing new venues for the many creatives that work in his agency. There I also came across some a RISD grad and also a current RISD student interning there. It’s nice to see RISD everywhere I go. -JM

I was happy to attend an informal gathering of RISD alumni in Korea arranged by Ms. Heather Park who is the president of the alumni club there. Everywhere you go there is a RISD grad that cannot forget their incredible RISD experience and say quite plainly, “I wish I could go back to RISD!” Interestingly enough alum Ki-ho Park, who a couple of decades ago helped to found the Korean alumni club, is now back as a graduate student here at RISD. So RISD can live in your life forever … that’s the way we like it here! Thanks to all for coming on such short notice! -JM

On Sunday The Providence Journal profiled Landscape Architecture Prof. Mikyoung Kim and her design for The Horizon Garden - a small-scale sculpture park with pedestrian-friendly benches and walkways - to be built on the west side of Providence’s Dunkin’ Donuts Center. The park will also feature a sculpture consisting of a perforated stainless steel screen dotted with thousands of button-size pieces of recycled glass. Mikyoung’s proposal has reignited the debate over Rhode Island’s “One Percent for Public Art” statute - which sets aside a fraction of the cost of state building projects for public art - but when constructed will, in her words, make Downcity Providence “more human, more inviting, even more beautiful.”

Gerard Minakawa ’97 ID is taking his love of bamboo to new heights. Literally. The son of Bolivian and Argentinean immigrants, he lives in Bolivia, is a consultant for Aid To Artisans and is designing a sustainable furniture line with indigenous craftspeople.

In April he and his partners at Bamboo DNA built an amazing bamboo installation at the Coachella music and art festival in Indio, CA. At 90 feet tall by 96 feet wide, their Bamboo Starscraper (pictured above) was remarkably strong and structurally sound, rated for 95 mph winds. They also designed a large portion of the backstage environment, which featured palapas and bamboo lighting, among other interesting details. Bamboo DNA has done similar work at Burning Man and other festivals, and next year hopes to take over more space at Coachella. You can also read more about his latest structural bamboo art at the Santa Barbara Museum of Arts’ June events.

Last year Gerard also led a RISD Wintersession class in La Paz, Bolivia, where students worked on developing new products for international markets. You may have also seen (or sat on) his bamboo chairs, which are in use at RISD’s Met refectory. Who knows what he’ll grow next as he continues to experiment with what may be the world’s most flexible sustainable material?

Tino Chow ’09 ID thinks of himself as a social entrepreneur, a thinker and “a trouble-maker.” After running RISD’s participation in the national Better World by Design conference, serving as a Fellow at this year’s TED conference and winning RISD’s Mendelson Community Service Award for his activism, he’s off to make more trouble doing good. On Sunday, Tino hit the road on a two-month, cross-country bike ride to raise money for and awareness of affordable housing needs. Sponsored by Yahoo! and a handful of other partners, he’s doing this Purple Pedals adventure on a teched-up bike he’s calling “Blue Steel,” which automatically takes a photo every 60 seconds, geo-tags it and uploads it to Flickr, where you, too, can check out his minute-by-minute progress.

Little Eva said it in the song: A little bit of rhythm and a lot of soul. And that’s what Mark Moscone ‘88 PR, Director of Campus Exhibitions, and his assistant Gunnar Norquist, brought to ALCO (American Locomotive Works) for a reception with President Maeda on Thursday. Mark and Gunnar transformed the undeveloped space with recent work by Hugh Zeigler ‘09 PT, Allison Roberts, MFA ‘09 PR, Greg O’Malley ‘09 PT, Joseph Segal MFA ‘09 TX, Michael Green MFA ‘09 FD, Martin Smick MFA ‘09 PT, and Luke O’Sullivan MFA ‘09 PR, demonstrating that drive and creative energy so unique to RISD. Area alumni, Museum members, and parents turned out to meet President Maeda, hear his thoughts and reflections on his first year at RISD, and ask provocative questions about the future of art + design.

Please take a moment (4 minutes, actually), to watch President John Maeda’s video memo in response to two pieces of legislation being heard by the Rhode Island General Assembly. The first would allow communities to assess private colleges and universities a flat fee of $150 per out-of-state student per semester, and the second would allow cities and towns to collect taxes on property held by these institutions of higher education. As President Maeda points out, under an agreement reached with Mayor Cicilline in 2003, RISD has already voluntarily contributed $7.4 million (or $535 per student annually) to Providence. The proposed student impact fees and property taxes would have a significant impact on our institution – one already experiencing unprecedented financial challenges of its own (note that we are already experiencing salary and hiring freezes, budget and benefits reductions and layoffs).

If you’d like to share your opinions on the matter with the leaders of Rhode Island’s General Assembly, their contact information can be found below:

Representative William J. Murphy, Speaker of the House
Rhode Island General Assembly
State House Room 323
Providence, RI 02903
rep-murphy@rilin.state.ri.us

Senator M. Teresa Paiva-Weed, Senate President
Rhode Island General Assembly
State House Room 318
Providence, RI 02903
sen-paivaweed@rilin.state.ri.us