Keith Campbell BARCH ‘78 hosted a reception for President Maeda at RTKL Architects in Chicago last night.  It had been some time since the Chicago alumni had gotten together, and the air was full of the energy created by alumni and parents connecting with each other. The President shared some of his thoughts about his paths of discovery as he looks to articulate RISD’s core beliefs, and his experiences meeting new alumni, many of whom do not fit into traditional molds - words that resonated with many of the alumni in attendance, among them an artist residency administrator, a painter and fashion designer who teach in an after school arts program, and an architect turned architectural photographer. Proof that a RISD education allows for endless possibilities!

Photos by John Weinstein ‘78 PH

After beating out two other talented finalists, Philadelphia-based artist Ryan Trecartin ’04 FAV has just been named the first winner of the Jack Wolgin International Competition in the Fine Arts, which comes with a $150,000 cash prize – the world’s largest given to a visual artist in a juried competition.

Created earlier this year by Jack Wolgin, a real estate developer, banker and philanthropist in Philadelphia, the competition was established at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art “to recognize an emerging artist with a significant studio practice who critically and creatively engages with existing histories and images, and whose work transcends traditional boundaries.”

Ryan certainly fits the description. Through both his amazing video output and a collaborative sculpture practice with artist Lizzie Fitch, he produces outlandish but bizarrely true-to-life work that you just may want to check out on Ubuweb and Vimeo. Way to go, Ryan!

At their meeting earlier this month, The RISD Parents’ Council participated in a “play date” with students and faculty involved in an interdisciplinary studio sponsored by local toy giant Hasbro. After parents played and interacted with prototypes-in-progress (see above photo by Jennifer Garza-Cuen MFA ‘10 PH), they gave students feedback that will be helpful as they continue their semester-long investigation of the intriguing concept of play.

Parents also engaged in a discussion about how they can continue to create and support more internships for RISD students. Janie and Leland Wong, parents of Sarah Wong ‘11, shared details about Sarah’s experience working with alumna Michelle Martini ‘95 FAV last summer in New York, whose clients include Macy’s and the New York State Lottery. Sarah worked on the costume and set design for this spot - check it out!

From thoughtful presentations, studio tours, faculty demonstrations and  lively workshops to John Maeda’s discussion on critical thinking and critical making, the alumni entrepreneurship panel and the warmth of the reunion dinners, there was a lot packed in to this year’s RISD by Design celebration for Parents and Alumni. Attendance at reunion dinners was more than double that of previous years, with special events for many of the reunion classes.  Click here for a glimpse of the fun, selected from the thousands of photos taken during the weekend!

Photo: Linda Coulombe MAT ‘86 explores visual math in Carl Fasano’s hands-on class Design Science.

Scott Indermauer Photography

Earlier this week, over 150 New York alumni of all ages met for a RISD After Work networking event.  If you’ve never been to one of these, keep your eye on the alumni calendar of events  for one in your area. It’s always great to hear about the strange and wonderful  things that RISD alumni are up to, and it’s a wonderful way to make new connections.

Alumni tossed their business cards into a bowl for a chance at a free ipod shuffle.  Gregory Mastrianni ‘84 GD was the lucky winner!

The stove was hot with pizza and so were the conversations when RISD alumni, along with their families, got together with  Alumni Association President Nat Hesse ‘76 SC at his Sculpture Ranch in New Mexico recently for a Pizza Cook Off. Michael Wright ‘85 ID was the pie maker,a specialty he developed during his student days at RISD. Mike made the pizzas and everyone brought the ingredients, including green chile - a New Mexico favorite. Alumni at this years Cook Off was the most varied it’s ever been at this annual event, ranging  from Jane Crittenden ‘49 PT to Sean DiIanni ‘07 SC. When RISD Alumni get together, good food abounds!

According to the dictionary, an ecolect is ” a language variety unique to a household” - a term Matt Grigsby ‘05 ID finds appropo to describe the company he co-founded with that name. Ecolect is the worlds largest online database of ecological products and provides, in Matt’s words, a “new, ecologically intelligent language for designers”. Incoming freshman and returning students turned out earlier this week to hear Matt, the first in a series of Alumni Lecturers,  talk about his experiences at RISD - an environment in which he could learn by his mistakes as well as successes, and where he found cross pollination with Brown, MIT, and sponsored studios - and, since his graduation, his search for a better way to bring ecologically sound products to artists and designers.  Matt brought along some samples of those products, part of his traveling “petting zoo” (see photo above), and you can see them and more at the Ecolect website he and his partner Joe Gebbia ‘05 ID have been building over the last few years. Thanks, Matt, for sharing your personal journey with us!

The RISD Alumni Council Executive Committee resisted the lure of the perfect beach day on Saturday to meet and define goals and actions for the Alumni Council during the coming year. Led by new officers President Nathaniel Hesse ‘76 SC and Vice President Meghan Reilly ‘01 GD, the group laid out an ambitious plan that will include building regional events with President Maeda and traveling faculty members, greater interaction with students on campus, faculty appreciation, and outreach to young alumni.

If you have an interest in becoming more involved, and want to jump into the volunteer pool, contact Christina Hartley, Director of Alumni Relations + Special Events at chartley*at*risd.edu!

Ms. Jill McGrath in New York asked me to share some sad news about one of our recent graduates, “Peter St. Onge (Printmaking ‘09) passed away tragically on August 8.” Peter was someone that I had just shook hands with at commencement a few months ago. I am deeply saddened by this loss. For anyone that wishes to offer condolences for Peter, please visit PeterStOnge.com. His family has created a scholarship fund for the arts in his memory: PETER ST ONGE SCHOLARSHIP FOR THE ARTS, Rumson, Fair Haven Bank & Trust, Attn: Alexandra Smith, 20 Bingham Avenue, Rumson, NJ 07760.

The Department of Teaching + Learning in Art + Design has had a long and very successful partnership with CityArts. The Executive Director, Barbara Wong, is a graduate of RISD’s MA in Art + Design Education. Her commitment, along with Prof. John Chamberlin’s longstanding commitment through his course “Community Art Project,” are critical to the success of the partnership. Community Art Project provides undergraduate students with the challenge to leave their RISD studios to develop engaging and creative learning opportunities for CityArts youngsters.

City Arts’ new Education Director, Adrienne Gagnon, also graduated with a RISD MA. While at RISD, she was a Teaching Assistant for Prof. Chamberlin’s Community Art Project course.

Their recent “summer soiree” was held at the beautiful Woods-Gerry mansion here at RISD last Friday on a glorious summer day. -JM