With so much information available at any given time here at RISD, I find myself challenged to keep up on a weekly basis. In front of me is a four-page document that is an excerpt of highlights of activity by our RISD Faculty. Here are a few samples that take us across some of the many departments here at RISD:

• Prof. Hansy Better in Architecture has been elected to the Board of Directors at the Boston Society of Architecture. Congratulations Prof. Better!
• Prof. Jason Brockert in Illustration is showing work until February 28, 2009 at the Pawtucket Arts Collaborative Gallery – be sure to check out his work from his “Mall Series.”
• Prof. Bolaji Campbell in History of Visual Art and Culture is touring his new book Painting for the Gods. He recently lectured at one of my favorite schools: University of Wisconsin–Madison.
• Prof. Ellen Driscoll in Sculpture was awarded a grant from the LEF Foundation for her project FastForwardFossil. Knowing Prof. Driscoll’s work I am certain that the work will be sublime and wonderful.
• Prof. Sandy Gourlay in English published an article in the Journal for 18th Century Studies entitled “Art Delivered.”
• Prof. Nade Haley in Foundation Studies completed a commission for the Des Moines Iowa Federal Building composed of 22 laminated glass panels roughly measuring 36″x50″.
• Prof. Carrie Moyer in Painting is showing in New York and in Washington DC, and “Carrie Moyer: Painting Propaganda” is currently on display at the Katzen Center for the Arts at American University.

And that’s just a tiny segment of all the things happening out there in the world powered by RISD Faculty. Faculty across all departments and divisions are lecturing all over the world, displaying things all over the world, and sending their ideas all over the world. Be sure to catch the inspired work of our students as well. Thank you and have a great weekend. -JM

Despite the deepening recession, I remain optimistic about RISD’s fundraising future. Why? I see examples of tremendous generosity all around me in the RISD community. When John Maeda talks about his commitment to increasing financial aid and making RISD accessible to more students, it is not idle talk. I asked John and Kris Maeda for their permission to share their story as an example of this generosity. John and Kris gave RISD the first $25,000 of their $100,000 commitment to financial aid in December. Recognizing that RISD needs to have funds immediately accessible to meet students’ needs, and that RISD also needs to rebuild its endowment, John and Kris will designate half of their gifts to current scholarships and half to an endowed scholarship fund. In addition, John has directed about $60,000 in lieu of speaking fees and honoraria to RISD since he became president. With five daughters, and the same declines in investments, home value, and retirement funds that we are all experiencing, John and Kris have the confidence and commitment to support RISD at unexpected levels. John’s extraordinary leadership inspires me daily, and I know it will inspire our donors. So I invite you to be optimistic with me. And hopefully you will agree that our RISD deserves our support. Anyone who cares about the future of creativity can make a gift of any size. Together, our collective gifts can make an enormous difference.

Beth Garvin
Vice President, Institutional Engagement

Mad scientist Dr. Tremendanus, an expert on intergalactic species, hosts this year’s one-night stand of the Creature Creation Show at the RISD Auditorium this Saturday, February 28 at 8pm. A surreal sci-fi fusion of music, performance art and video projections, the show features an invasion of newly “discovered” creature/characters created by 15 students in the popular Creature-Creation Wintersession class taught by Erminio Pinque ’83 IL. Professional musicians and performers from the BIG NAZO LAB and the local arts community round out the picture, which promises to be quirky, colorful and entertaining. And get this: it’s free.

On March 3, RISD and swissnex Boston/Consulate of Switzerland are co-hosting a roundtable discussion on “the ways in which architecture operates at a cultural remove,” both as an academic exercise and as the basis for an understanding of the architect’s predictive and evaluative tools. Lynnette Widder, RISD associate professor and head of the Architecture Department, joins three other authorities in the field - Kurt Forster (Yale University), Sylvain Malfroy (Zurich University of Applied Sciences) and Roberto de Oliveira Castro (over, under, Boston) - for the discussion; RISD students who participated in the course Designing at a Distance: A School in Lausanne will reflect on their experiences working with a Swiss designer and at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland (where RISD has a new exchange program).

All are welcome to attend the free event on Tuesday, March 3 from 6:30-9 pm at swissnex Boston/Consulate of Switzerland in Cambridge, MA. Please RSVP to anina@swissnexboston.org. Support for this event and for Designing at a Distance has been generously provided by Presence Switzerland, swissnex Boston and ThinkSwiss - Brainstorm the Future.

Suggested reading: Peter Schjeldahl’s new New Yorker review of the Shepard Fairey ‘92 IL retrospective at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. He offers an interesting take on the plusses and minuses of Shepard’s work (”terrific designer,” not that great an artist) and puts the controversies associated with his legal woes in good perspective (”I’m bored by the kerfuffle’s rote recurrence”). Schjeldahl also covers a lot of other thought-provoking ground in a mere two pages. For more on the debate surrounding Shepard’s “appropriation” of an AP photo for his ubiquitous Obama poster, check out Milton Glaser’s recent commentary.

I was walking around RISD and spied Prof. Lane Myer with something that seemed a bit out of the ordinary in his knapsack. One usually thinks of books, maybe a folder, something spiral bound, but not usually a piece of wood. However at RISD I find this to be a normal every day occurrence. Whether it be an elegant piece of puke-orange styrofoam, or a terribly warped and mangy 2×4, or a gigantic piece of cardboard carried by a single tiny student. See the sights of RISD! -JM

Congratulations to several young alumni, who were named “Young Guns” by the Art Directors Club in 2008 (we’re a bit late with this news - apologies). Ryan Dunn ‘03 GD and Wyeth Hansen ‘03 GD together run the Brooklyn studio Labour, where they design across a full spectrum of media. In addition, the ADC recognized the Chicago/NYC-based web design studio Also, made up of Jenny Volvovski ‘02 GD, Matt LaMothe ‘02 FAV and Julia Rothman ‘02 IL.

The ADC’s Young Guns awards identify the “vanguard of creative professionals who let loose their imaginations, shattering conventions and breaking boundaries with a dash of brilliance and personal flair.” Small wonder they’ve selected so many RISD alums! Special thanks to Prof. Lucy Hitchcock, for sending in this news.

Watch an interview with Ryan and Wyeth just below. And there’s an interview with Julia below the “fold”.

Here is Julia’s Young Gun interview:

Today I met with the President of the Providence Chamber of Commerce Laurie White to ask her how to get RISD students to get started with an “ultra-light” creative business here in Providence, RI. Laurie said she could do it in 59 seconds, and although we went a little bit over you can see how simple it really is.

1. Register your biz at City Hall at www.providenceri.com.
2. Contact www.tax.ri.gov to get your State Tax application.
3. Get your federal tax ID number www.irs.gov.
4. Get some biz insurance at www.provchamber.com.

For general questions just contact “Kelly” at businessinfo **at** sec.state.ri.us for more complete info.

Thanks Laurie!

Congratulations to Robert Geller ‘01 AP for winning the second annual Best New Menswear Designer in America designation from GQ and the Council of Fashion Designers of America. Six finalists for the 2009 competition were featured in the February issue of GQ, but last week a panel of industry experts selected Robert’s fall ‘09 collection as the best of the bunch. “We were wowed by the singularity of Robert Geller’s vision, and we think he’s a significant - and welcome - new force in the American men’s fashion scene,” noted Jim Nelson, a member of the selection panel. Winners receive a $50,000 cash prize and the opportunity to create a limited-edition collection for Levi’s, which will be featured in the September 2009 issue of GQ.

It seems that with almost every alumni encounter I make, I’m sure to find some endearing reference to Prof. Mike Fink in the RISD English Department. In the same way there are six degrees of separation to Kevin Bacon, I am finding there are perhaps only two or three to Prof. Fink. This discovery speaks to the fact that RISD is a uniquely visual liberal arts school that builds foundational knowledge in our students that fluidly cross fine art, design, and the liberal arts. In other words they come for our incredibly broad and riveting fine art and design education, and on top of that leave with the key skills for critical thinking and lifetime communication to succeed in our world.

FYI this post was inspired by my recent status update on Facebook: “When a student says they love a subject of study, they are saying that they love the teacher even more. Learning is personal.”

To which RISD alumni and past Trustee Eric Engstrom writes: “While at RISD I learned to love English from Mike Fink, and still I love him as well - but both equally. He was (and continues to be) an inspiration and I find him to be still vital and engaging 45 years after I took his class …”