Just last week Rob Kalin founder of Etsy.com, one of my favorite “new generation” businesses, emailed me with a link to a popular blog post that highlit the above NYT graphic. Add that to the message I got from President Obama’s recent inauguration address — “And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age.” — and it’s clear that our world and our President wants this President (me) to do the right thing. This will surely take some time. Message received. And there’s no better time than to START HERE. -JM

Like the rest of you, witnessing yesterday’s event even via television was quite a powerful affair. I sat in the Met cafeteria with a group of about 100 students as we watched the inauguration ceremony together. Spontaneous laughter erupted when Dr. Warren said the name “Sasssshha” in a funny way. And then when President Obama was sworn into office it was interesting to watch the faces of the RISD students in the room.

This morning as a relevant followup to yesterday, I met with our Director of Admissions Ed Newhall. Together with Ed I am learning how to get a better sense of what defines our students here at RISD. He said it quite simply:

• RISD was my first choice. It’s rare to hear someone say that RISD was their second or third choice. It’s usually been their lifelong dream.
• RISD teaches critical thinking. Many students come to RISD because of the strength of our liberal arts offerings and how critical thinking intertwines with critical making.
• I did it on my own. RISD attracts a certain kind of student that wants to figure out how do things on their own. The honest way. The only way, for some.
• I know what I want. There is a kind of laser-guided focus in many of our students towards the pursuit of a goal that drives them to levels of passion that are simply unfathomable.

So with Ed’s comments I was able to fulfill a hunch I had while watching the inauguration and popping down the delicious celebratory mini-corndogs. I was sitting among some of the passionate people of the younger generation. Period. And I’m proud to lead them forward together with our new brand new President. Let’s see what kind of future we can design for the USA together! -JM

Despite the frigid temperatures, more than 100 visitors ventured out last Thursday to attend the festive opening for Project Open Door at Brown-RISD Hillel. The charcoal still-lifes and figure drawings on the walls represented months of hard work by high school students involved in Project Open Door, RISD’s free arts program for teenagers in under-resourced school districts. Through the intensive studio program, RISD aims to “alleviate the tremendous obstacles facing urban public school teens who are interested in college and careers in art and design,” explains Program Manager Nancy Safian.

Most of the students who came for the opening were from Providence’s Met School and Hope High School, where RISD’s Department of Teaching + Learning in Art + Design is deeply involved in an innovative arts curriculum. Many proud family members came along too; Illustration Critic Jason Brockert [RISD ’94 Illustration] and Associate Professor of English Mairéad Byrne – both of whom have been volunteering their time to work with POD students – were among the RISD faculty and students who came out to show their support of the hard-working young artists.

Make plans now to see Bedazzled, an exhibition of World War I-era drawings for naval camouflage (aka “dazzle”) that used “counterintuitive [and] outrageous paint patterns,” as the Associated Press notes, “to confuse submarine gunners and captains peering through periscopes.” The seemingly random, Cubist-like graphics made it harder for enemies to distinguish shape, speed and direction while at sea.

Bedazzled is drawn from a collection of 455 plans and photographs donated to RISD’s library by Maurice Freedman, who had been a camouflager during the war for the US Shipping Board’s Emergency Fleet Corporation - the wartime precursor to the Merchant Marines. After the war, he came to RISD to study drawing and painting, bringing along his cache of asymmetrical, organic plans and providing the library with these remarkable examples of early-20th century designs in service to country.

The exhibition is on view January 26-March 29, 2009 in the Fleet Library at RISD and a symposium on February 14 (2-4pm, in the Metcalf Auditorium, Chace Center) will focus on “Artists at War: Exploring the Connections Between Art and Camouflage.” Speakers include Roy Behrens [RISD MAE ‘72], Assistant Professor Daniel Harkett and Readers Services Librarian Claudia Covert, who organized the exhibition.

Thanks to Jarrett Krosoczka ‘99 IL, who wrote to our-suggests **at** risd.edu to let us know about a recent Houston Chronicle article on Jamie (Assad) Wells ‘99 IL and her husband Jeremy, who together run the Houston-area studio Imago Dei. Jamie and Jeremy have been working together since 2002 and Imago Dei now consists of 14 artists, specializing in decorative painting, faux finishes and murals. Congratulations, Jamie and thank you, Jarrett!

A friend sent me this quote by Robert Redford from the recently opened Sundance Festival where I know one of our Trustees John Beug is currently attending …

“Change is in the air. Change is, of course, inevitable. It could bring good times. It could bring bad times. There’s no reason to think the times coming have to to be so filled with dread that we can’t look for some sort of optimism and hope. There’s always some space for opportunity. I’m thinking this could be a very inspiring time for artists.”

Have an inspired weekend, -JM

President John Maeda will be the keynote speaker at the State of Rhode Island’s Martin Luther King Holiday Celebration on January 19 at 4pm at the Ebenezer Baptist Church (475 Cranston Street, Providence). The committee charged with selecting a speaker for this national day of reflection cited the president’s abiding commitment to diversity - on our campus and all university campuses - and his respect for open human interaction everywhere.

Ten minutes ago I just got off the phone in a meeting that connected design leaders as the Davos World Economic Forum approaches in just a few weeks. There, we are working together with world leaders to connect the missing strands of our global dialogue with respect to design and the arts as a united group in an ongoing process.

You can see Global Agenda Council member MoMA’s Paola Antonelli speak about how design affects the global agenda with increasing significance right here. If you haven’t already, please check out the important and uplifting piece by member Alice Rawsthorn of the International Herald Tribune.

Thought I would point you to this video today:

You can see it in much higher quality than YouTube on our new Brightcove system. Enjoy the inspiration … it’s y(our) RISD too. -JM

PS Also check out our NEW website that highlights our graduate program.

I had the good fortune of seeing and touching the exquisite work of RISD Textile alums Maegan Fee and Happy Farrow of Merida Meridian. The range of work they showed to me and my colleague VP of Institutional Engagement Beth Garvin crossed themes of sustainability and multiculturalism with a sophisticated sense of play. They both sang the praises of RISD Textiles Department Professors Anais Missakian and Liz Collins with the kind of adoration usually reserved for rock stars. I continue to enjoy seeing the fruits of RISD’s educational programs as manifeset by our graduates and their work in the many fields they have entered. -JM