I heard this week from an alumna who is celebrating her 50th reunion, and thinking about attending the Golden Grads luncheon.  She had this to say about the name of the event: “I have to say the term ‘golden  grads’  sets one’s teeth on edge. It doesn’t sound like RISD, and, growing older is seldom golden.”  I realized she was right, so I’ve been thinking ever since about a new name for this group of alumni.  It should be distinguished, but fun, and RISD-esque.  Does anyone have any ideas?  we’ll put it to a vote once we collect some!

RISD is an urban campus, which provides us with lots of great restaurants, theaters, shops…..and parking problems.  We do, however, open up all campus lots during the weekend.  You can find a map here, listing all available lots.  The hill that gives us such a lovely view of all of downtown Providence can make getting around a chore!  We do offer a shuttle for those with mobility issues, as well.

This article was in the Denver Post and written by Lucy Ewing.  Lucy’s daughter Anna will enter RISD this week!

How do you tell your daughter you love her beyond the moon and stars, and leave her alone in her dorm room 2,000 miles from home?

Next week, I will be faced with this moment when Anna starts her freshman year at Rhode Island School of Design.

In the meantime, every day brings another encounter. “Are you ready?” friends ask Anna. “Are you ready?” they ask me. If it’s ready as in, “We have acquired extra-long twin sheets for the dorm beds,” we’ve got it covered. The other kind of ready? This year has been so full of highs and lows that it is difficult to know.

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It’s taken me way too long to get to this blog, and of course, I had to read everything! 

Summer is officially over and now we can think about the smell of fall in the air (well, except here in CA). And that includes thinking about going back to RISD and connecting to those days that we can relive without the stressful bit of needing to get something finished by tomorrow morning.

For parents: There will be so many of us alumni there….you can ask us questions that your student may not be able to answer (or want to!). The real scoop about the campus and classes with come from the youngest alumni. Those of us who have been out in the world for a while can tell you about our jobs, and yes, there is a wonderful, satisfying, exciting life after RISD where we work (for money) and contribute to society.

For students: You can grab any alum and ask for advice on anything from the best pizza or what “interesting” really means in a crit, to how good the Nads are, etc etc.

For alumni: I graduated in 1964 which qualifies for the dinosaur award, but I have to tell you, from my experience RISD alumni “age” better than any people I have ever seen. We become more fascinating as we click off the years and always stay about 25 years old inside. So……coming back to RBD will rejuvenate you and get you in the mood to relive those years and to share your experiences in the world with others like you. And…..you can see, I volunteered you to talk with parents and students in need of your ideas

See you on campus !

Joan

Not to be missed! On Saturday, October 11, at 2:00pm, Baruch Kirschenbaum, Professor Emeriti, will present an exhibition and talk about the Lowthorpe School of Landscape Architecture, Gardening and Horticulture for Women.

The exhibition of lantern slides, books and printed material in the library reveals a piece of RISD’s history which has not generally been known. The material on exhibition came to RISD from the Lowthorpe School, which became part of RISD in 1945. The School was founded in 1901 in Groton, Massachusetts specifically for the professional education of women in the landscape professions at a time when such education was not otherwise readily available. In conjunction with the exhibition, Professor Kirschenbaum will review the history of the RISD/Lowthorpe connection and explain how he became engaged with it.

This event is free and open to all, and will take place in the Fleet Library at RISD, second floor, in room 228. For questions or more info, contact Laurie Whihtehill Chong, Special Collections Librarian, at lwhitehi**at**risd.edu.

KNITTING NATION is an ongoing, collaborative performance and site-specific installation project, and includes a legion of machine knitters led by assistant professor of textiles and knitting maverick Liz Collins ‘91 TX/MFA ‘99. The project explores aspects of textile and apparel manufacturing, and functions as a commentary on how humans interact with machines, global manufacturing, trade and labor, iconography, and fashion.

At RBD 2007, Liz and her team created this piece inside The Met:

On Saturday of this year, weather permitting, Liz and her team can be seen atop the Radeke Building, creating a larger than life knit piece that will cascade down the building, easily viewed for the Chace Center plaza.

It’s legendary - and a RISD tradition.  Of course I’m talking about the bicycle drawing that helped you to gain entree into RISD!  Come to the Waterman Gallery at 13 Waterman Street anytime during the weekend to see the submissions from this year’s Freshman class - they get better every year!