When your co-worker wants you to meet someone nicknamed “Melinda the Martian”, anywhere but RISD that might fill you with trepidation.  Melinda Rainsberger ‘04 FAV, however, is anything but frightening.   This amazing young alum (celebrating her fifth reunion!) not only teaches in Continuing Education at RISD and runs her own company, but also had time to whip up the amazing video above about the joys of attending RISD by Design.   If you speak RISD you should have no problem understanding it!

Do You Speak RISD? Of course, you do. All RISD grads do. And this October you’ll have an opportunity to speak RISD once again with other 2004 classmates at special RISD Reunions parties for young alumni.

Boston: Thursday, October 8^th, 6:30pm, Channel Café,
300 Summer Street

New York: Thursday, October 8^th, 6:30pm, Boucarou Lounge, 64 East 1^st Street

San Francisco: Thursday, October 8^th, 6:30pm, Taverna Aventine, 582 Washington Street

Providence: Saturday, October 10^th, 9pm – 12am,
Main Gallery, The RISD Museum, 20 North Main Street

So register today—it’s free! And easy. If you’re attending in Boston, New York or San Francisco, just send an e-mail to MMiller02@RISD.edu or call us at (401) 454-6656.

In Providence, register by going online to rbd.risd.edu/register (registration is free for Young Alumni) or calling 401.454.6379.

Then get ready to enjoy that special vibe that comes from hanging out with people who look at light fragmenting through the ice cubes in a drink and see an intricate pattern of possibilities for next week’s project. Or if you’re merely thirsty and want to see old friends, then this is the event for you, too!

Join the ’04 Facebook group at: Rhode Island School of Design - Class of 2004

image designed by Melinda Rainsberger ‘04 FAV

On Saturday, October 10^th join RISD Ceramics students and faculty not at the ISB lot on campus, but at Tillinghast Farm (231 Nayatt Road, Barrington) for an Earth, Water, Fire and Air experience in a beautiful country setting.

From 11:30 to 3:30 pm, Larry Bush, Professor and Department Head of Ceramics, will orchestrate a multi-firing extravaganza for RISD By Design featuring these ongoing events:

• Medieval Japanese Raku glaze firing. Glaze your own piece and see it fired for a nominal cost. All proceeds go to the RISD Clay Club Scholarship Fund.
• Ancient Egyptian Paste firing, also known as “Egyptian Fiance” (see Treasures of the Nile catalog at the RISD Museum). Make your own amulet with this ancient material of royalty!
• Down by the river, join students from Brown’s Archaeology Department as RISD demonstrates the firing of objects fabricated from native Rhode Island clay using a 35,000-year-old method from prehistoric Europe.

Take the designated shuttle van from Chace Center that runs between the campus and Tillinghast Farm. Shuttles will loop on an hourly schedule.

Somehow, in the mysterious and complex process that is the assembly of our brochure, this event slipped out of the copy.  But let me assure you, it’s happening!

Books + Prints Sale

10am–4pm | former RISD Library, College Building, 236 Benefit Street

Browse through a fascinating selection of used books and prints in the beautiful Fleet Library. Proceeds from sales support the acquisition of new items for the library’s collection.

What’s on their mind?  Today’s RISD students share many of the hopes and aspirations that you did, and will soon face some of the same challenges you did as you began to make your way in the worlds of art and design beyond RISD’s walls. Come to the Alumni Cafe in The Met on Saturday, October 10, from 5-7 pm, and share your experiences, including some examples of your work (photos or a laptop) with the next generation of RISD artists and designers. light snacks will be provided.

Hey, did you know you get free Museum admission ALL WEEKEND with your Reunion and Parents’ Weekend registration?  Now go check out some art!

Several galleries in the Chace Center and Radeke Building will present special exhibitions including:

West & West: New Works by Joe Deal

an exhibition of images from Kansas and Nebraska along the 6th Principal Meridian, which was used to grid off real estate in that region)

The Brilliant Line: Following the Early Modern Engraver, 1480–1650

exploring the art of engraving and its dynamic transformations during the European Renaissance

Inner City

an installation of 120 figurative and architectural ceramic elements by Arnie Zimmerman

Shih Chieh Huang/Connected: Eject before disconnecting

a piece by the renowed Taiwanese artist, who uses a low-tech approach to create installations with which the viewer interacts through sound and movement)

Nature/Artifice: Contemporary Works from the Collection

examining the relationship between nature and artifice, reality and fiction, through a selection of contemporary paintings, sculpture, and video from the Museum’s collections

Watercolors in the Porcelain Gallery: Flower and Still Life Painters

pieces from the Museum’s top-notch collection of 18th and 19th century British watercolors

Indonesia and the Zone of Attraction: Textiles from the Permanent Collection

selections from the Museum’s permanent collection

Mountains and Rivers: Scenic Views of Japan

Japanese woodblock prints, including work by Hokusai and Hiroshige

Remember Rusty Dawg, who appeared in last years video about RISD By Design?  Well, here he is enjoying the alumni sale during the weekend along with a few friends.  Thanks to Erminio Pinque ‘83 IL and Big Nazo!

Recently Etsy, the popular online retailer of handmake and vintage items, took a tour of RISD’s amazing Nature Lab and put together this video - “There’s No Place Like Here,” the latest in their series.    You can check out the Nature Lab yourself during RISD by Design– on Saturday, October 10th The Nature Lab will host an open house and session, Drawing from Nature, where you can take charcoal and paper and do your own drawing from their wonderful array of specimens.

Many of you recently received an email from us announcing RISD’s new Facebook page and Twitter feed…..We know not all of you are interested in joining Facebook or tweeting, but for those who are, there’s more!

There are many reunion year (and other) classes who have created Facebook pages of their own that you can join to reconnect and plan for October.  Additionally, if you don’t see one for your year, we’d love you to create one!  Just shoot us an email and we can advertise it here and on our own RISD Alumni Association Facebook page.

The classes that have pages are listed by their titles, below:

1982:  RISD Classes of 1982-1990
1983:  RISD Classes of 1982-1990
1984:  RISD Class of 1984, Classes of 1982-1990
1985:  RISD Classes of 1982-1990
1986:  RISD Classes of 1982-1990
1987:  RISD Classes of 1982-1990
1988:  RISD 88-90, RISD Classes of 1982-1990
1989:  RISD Class of ‘89…yes it’s 20 years, RISD 88-90, RISD Classes of 1982-1990
1990:  RISD 88-90, RISD class of 1990-ish, RISD Classes of 1982-1990
1993:  RISD Class of ‘93
1995:  RISD ‘95
2001:  Rhode Island School of Design - Class of 2001
2007:  RISD Class of ‘07
2008:  RISD Class of 2008

If you know of a class page that is not listed here, please let us know!

Greetings, classmates:

Can you believe that it is 45 years since we graduated from RISD? And we haven’t even aged, or “matured.” Have we?

This will be a big year for us and RISD is planning some special events and activities to make our 45^th reunion memorable. There have been some amazing and wonderful additions to the campus in the last few years and we will have a special tour of them, planned just for us. Remember the Metcalf parking lot? Well, it has been replaced by The Chace Center, a fabulous building designed by world-renowned architect Rafael Moneo. It houses classrooms and studio space, an enlarged RISD museum including a space for special exhibits, a magnificent student gallery, an auditorium, and RISD Works, the place to shop for alumni-designed goodies.

The library and dorms are housed in the former Hospital Trust Bank building across the river, now The Roger Mandle Living and Learning Center. The new library is very impressive and has won a number of architectural awards. It looks like one of the coffered reading rooms in the NY Public Library. And the ten floors above are now beautifully designed dorms and apartments for students. The big alumni sale will take place on Benefit Street on Saturday. And, on Saturday evening, there will be a great dinner party for our class. The weekend will also give you a chance to meet our dynamic new president, John Maeda.

This is just a taste! Much more is being planned. We are looking forward to seeing you all, and to reminiscing and talking about what we have been doing all these years.

We hope to see you soon at RISD!

Joan Kokkins Herron ’64 Graphic Design

Stuart Murphy ’64 Illustration