I first met Banks Griffin ‘01 FAV in New York while working on the RISD Athena Awards, and found his easy, confident manner to be incredibly reassuring during an intense, chaotic time.  Banks is a film maker, now living and working in Brooklyn, and I was thrilled to learn that he has had his short film, GAUGE, selected for viewing as part of the New York Film Festival.   The film will screen on Oct.11 at the Ziegfeld Theater, more info here.  Kudos to Banks!

In the moments when I can attend one of my children’s soccer games, I find great pleasure from sitting in a field of grass. Since I was a child I have been making little sculptures out of blades of grass … as I did so just this last weekend during a match. Coming off of the inauguration, it made me think of our Provost Jessie Shefrin’s phrase, “Thinking is a kind of making, and making is a kind of thinking.” I make. Therefore, I think. I hope you make something interesting today.

I thought this story in the NYT was an interesting point of light today amidst the rollercoaster ride in today’s stock market. I was reminded of inauguration speaker MIT Prof. Nicholas Negroponte’s point during his keynote at RISD that, “Hundreds of years from now we will not remember our corporations of today or even prominent politicians.” Instead we will be remembered for the great art that our society will leave for future generations. It follows that great art is a great loooooooong-term investment. So if you’re going to invest, think about investing in art.

PS My blogging teacher Mike Lee posted a web video of my inauguration speech and some of the day’s festivities. Thanks Mike!

Although it feels like I’ve been at RISD for a much longer time, I’m really just starting out. When I shared this feeling with National Design Award recipients and RISD alum-led firm 2×4, they designed the simple and elegant theme of “START HERE” which became our rallying cry at the inauguration ceremony last night. Thank you 2×4!

But of course, RISD isn’t just starting out. It’s proudly been around since 1877 and keeps on going forward and onward unstoppably like the Energizer bunny.

The majority of the text from my speech at inauguration is right here and the event was reported by Bill Van Siclen at the Providence Journal.

Thank you to everyone from coming from near and far to make it a wonderful celebration for us all here at RISD! And real thanks to the many virtual visitors that sent in their thanks in the online guestbook.

Steve Whitten, Director of Career Services, sent in this item about the New York City Biennial. Thanks, Steve!

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They came by bus, bike and subway. They pushed strollers, hefted backpacks and shared a glass of wine. They had graduated in 2008, 1984 or 1960. But RISD’s corner in Brooklyn – the 2008 NYC Alumni Biennial – was the gathering point for more than 700 alumni and guests to view 75 works of art and reconnect with fellow artists and designers.

Featuring works by 55 alumni living in the NYC region, representing 15 majors and spanning 4 decades, the exhibition continues until the end of September. Alumni are invited to participate in the continuing events surrounding the exhibition. Join us for gallery talks (with curators Lisa Sigal + Glenn Ligon); studio visits with alumni Janine Antoni, Paul Ramirez-Jonas and Nicole Eisenman and current RISD faculty; film/animation showings of RISD alumni; and music events including Marissa Nadler.

RSVP, get program updates and see it online here!

Exhibition on view through Sunday, September 28 at The Old American Can Factory (232 Third Street, Gowanus, Brooklyn). Hours: Th-Fr 5-8 pm, Sa 12-8 pm, Su 12-6 pm. Related Programs: September 13 and 20 beginning at 2 pm.

Provocative visual artist (and RISD honorary degree recipient [2002]) Ann Hamilton has just received the Heinz Award in the Arts and Humanities “for a body of work that has established her as one of contemporary art’s most influential voices”. Called by the Heinz Foundation “a dynamic tour de force,” Ann’s installations are labor intensive, participatory and constantly mesmerizing audiences: she has helped expand the way we have come to define and appreciate the arts in all its forms.

Among many other collections, Ann’s work is represented in the RISD Museum of Art, where she had a solo exhibition several years ago. And this year she was a surprise guest at RISD’s 2008 Convocation in September, where she led those gathered in a large call-and-response-style performance piece that was a hit of the unique ceremony.

Congratulations, Ann Hamilton!

Today at RISD I will be inaugurated as the sixteenth President. When I first learned I was number sixteen, I couldn’t help but recall how I graduated from high school in 1984 when the popular coming-of-age movie Sixteen Candles had just come out. An awkwardly human and funny film, it had somehow captured the essence of the feeling of discomfort around growing up and feeling … well, just a little bit different than the rest. In the end, the moral is that there’s nothing better in life than to be different. Why bother being normal, anyway?

So I’m at a unique institution that has always prided itself for being truly different from the rest – a magnet for the young (and older) art- and design-geeks in the universe. It seems quite natural that I should recall Sixteen Candles on this day of my inauguration as it poses to me a positive sign that I can expect a very happy ending, just like the movie.

PS In the slideshow above you can see some photos from my morning jog. Please excuse the quality of photos as it was shot with my mobile. You can see that the RISD campus has a wonderful blend of the old and the new, and in all cases as I can see around here … speaks to the truth of a community that perseveres to never give up expressing the human condition. Never.

There was a constructively critical comment on our internal blog here at RISD about how I needed to get out more on the street. Good idea. Today I went to my favorite non-RISD lunch joint Cafe Choklad, got my regular sandwich with baby carrots, and sat by myself outside our HQ building here at RISD. Indeed, I met a variety of people I wouldn’t normally meet on the blog, or in the cafeterias, or on the jogs I’m doing.

First of all, I met a Hollywood film maker who had dropped by RISD to visit our Dean of Fine Arts, John Terry. After that, I met the person that was part of a crew that I saw fixing a roof in the neighborhood — I had said “hello” to him at the time, and he remembered me. Unfortunately he had lost his job, and I told him to continue to have hope as he clearly seemed like a hard worker with an honest heart. Then a non-RISD truck passed by and the person inside told me to, “Keep on doing what I’m doing!” I wanted to stop him and ask him, “What *am* I doing?” But he drove off before I had a chance to ask.

As I approached the last bite of my sandwich, I had a faculty person approach me with one of his students. He had an idea about connecting RISD to an interesting part of the United States in some sort of new kind of studio experience. I told him that as President my “powers” are quite limited, and that ultimately all decisions regarding academics are naturally in the purview of the Provost’s Office. My advice to him was to talk to his Department Head and generate interest starting there.

His response was that it was a *special* kind of studio — that it would be better served by involving faculty from all over RISD. I said, “Great! Then you should ask your Department Head to talk to other Department Heads and see if there might be broader interest. If the idea was special enough and excellent enough, it would naturally go up to the Deans, and if there was enough interest among the Deans, it would ultimately make it to the Provost. In which case, the Provost would decide if the project makes sense and have a conversation with me.”

It was interesting to watch his reaction. He said that his way was to talk to all the different parts of RISD and “figure a way in.” I responded that I wasn’t surprised — artists and designers are right-brained thinkers that know how to “hack” any system. I also pointed out the problem that occurs when everyone is a “hacker.” The result is total system-wide chaos, also known as “gridlock” — a concept that has been elucidated quite nicely in the context of organizations in the new book Gridlock Economy.

So I proposed to him to use the system of communication that is in place, and to let the decision making take its natural course. When the system works, a natural case of “survival of the fittest” occurs and the best ideas *do* bubble up if you just let the system work. In any event, the president that was stuffing his face with a sandwich on the street heard about his idea, and wished the faculty person sincere good luck with his journey.

The inauguration of John Maeda as RISD’s 16th president is Friday, September 12, 5:30–7pm, in the First Baptist Church in America (75 North Main Street, Providence). A festive block party follows (7-9pm) in Market Square and on the riverfront, with music by Triangle Forest and the Awesome Brothers [Ashley Carraway ’00 FAV and Luke Boggia ’00 FAV].

As part of the celebration we have created an online guest book for you to add your thoughts, best wishes, or dreams for RISD. You can post a message consisting of words or an image: just click here to send your greeting and to see what others have contributed. The night of inauguration guest book entries will also be projected on the façade of RISD’s soon-to-be-opened Chace Center (20 North Main Street, Providence).

Congratulations, President Maeda!

Saturday was move-in day for freshmen at RISD. And since I like to understand things through actually doing them, I proudly wore a yellow shirt and assumed the position of a luggage-mover with the rest of the volunteer student force. First of all, I realized that freshmen bring gigantic suitcases of stuff in containers that I wasn’t aware existed. Some of the suitcases seemed bigger than a Hummer, and without wheels! I was *so* impressed with all the student volunteers buzzing about the residence halls with bags and boxes, and was grateful that they tolerated my inability to understand how to navigate the Quad with any real precision. Meanwhile, traffic was orderly moved in and out by our fine Public Safety officers, people were fed by our blazingly fast Dining Services staff, Facilities staff were moving everything point to point, and every part of RISD was collaborating to make a day potentially impacted by a hurricane into one that seemed quite placid.

Later I met with parents from all over the world at the Parent’s reception held at the RISD Museum. I heard about many childhood dreams of going to RISD fulfilled. There was such pride in every parents’ face. Congratulations to all parents and relatives of RISD Class of 2012 students! We’ll do our best here at RISD to make you even more proud!