A memorial service, open to the RISD community and the public, will be held for Rice Gattis on Friday, September 19, 5-7pm, 2 College St., Room 521, Providence, RI [directions]. If you have any electronic images of Rice you would like shown at the memorial service, please send them to Karen Zucconi (kzucconi*AT*risd.edu).

Here is Rice’s obituary, which appeared in The Providence Journal on June 17.
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GATTIS, RICE, long-time Rhode Island School of Design model, died unexpectedly in early June of this year. His age remains a secret.

Rice was a part of the RISD community for 49 years. He grew up in New York City among theatrical people, and those beginnings informed his lifelong love of theatre and film. Rice served in the Air Force in Alaska in the 1950s before coming to RISD in 1959. He graduated from RISD in 1963 as an Apparel Design major. Rice was a clothes designer, a dancer, and an excellent ice skater and ice skating teacher. His gift at holding a pose and his careful and astute comments about students’ drawings made Rice a joy to work with as a model and a colleague. He volunteered to assist the RISD Museum in their Free-for-All Program at the Flynn School in South Providence, helping students design and create hats.

Rice was quick with a pun, always had time for a conversation, cared for the plants all across campus, and loved the New York Times crossword. The RISD campus will feel emptier without his presence.

The City of Providence is hosting a party on Saturday, September 13, when The Providence Foundation and Downtown Improvement District welcome local college students back to Providence for the Downtown Student Experience, in partnership with CW28 and WBRU.

The afternoon will be filled with live music, information-sharing and free activities in Biltmore Park, adjacent to the Bank of America Skating Center in Kennedy Plaza. We invite you to listen to the sounds of WBRU, beginning at 2pm, while sampling coffee, eating lunch, and checking out maps and performance schedules. Participants include CW28, WBRU, RIPTA, Cox Communications, tazza caffe, Benders Caffe, the City of Providence, Gold’s Gym, Boston Sports Clubs, the Providence Downtown Improvement District, McFadden’s, Ri-Ra, Dunkin’ Donuts, Rhode Ilin Ice Cream and many more.

At 3pm, students will meet some of Providence’s most beloved characters when life-size Big Nazo puppets arrive at the park. At 4pm, Providence Black Repertory Theatre will kick off the live portion of the program with a brief spoken word performance. Immediately following, WBRU welcomes three amazing local bands, LLOVE, the Jesse Minute, and Innocent Uprising, appearing on stage until about 6:30pm.

Click here to get the full  schedule and more information.

As a woman who suffers from perpetual handbag dissatisfaction, I was especially excited to hear about the launch during New York’s Fashion Week of a new collection of bags by RISD Alumna Erin Voorhies MFA ‘05 TX and Ann Nolan MFA’05 TX.  Their company, Kempt, will present their new collection of reimagined classic american luxury handbags,  handstitched in Fall River, MA using exotic skins and custom designed hardware. Read more here about Kempt and their Spring ‘09 collection.

As President John Maeda’s inauguration nears (September 12 in Providence) the media are continuing to show keen interest in RISD’s 16th president. This Tuesday Dominque Browning’s Wall Street Journal “Cultural Conversation” was with John and last week the BBC broadcast his interview with Owen Bennett-Jones. Click here to read all the coverage related to the Maeda presidency (so far!).

On Monday, September 8 at 7:00 PM in the RISD Auditorium, the RISD Alumni Association will present the first Alumni Lecturer of the 2008-2009 academic year, Ryan Waller.  A 2003 RISD graduate in Graphic Design, Ryan has become a designer, teacher and collector. He publishes the New College Beat, a small circulation zine of minority interest and is a member of Rad Mountain, a silkscreen studio collaborative in Gowanus, Brooklyn.  Don’t miss it!
(Drawing of Ryan by Jenny Moertsell)