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!

Have you found a place to stay yet for RISD By Design weekend?  if you are tired of hotels, or want to save a few $$, consider AirBnB, or AirBed and Breakfast, an online service created by alumni Joe Gebbia ‘05 ID and Brian Chesky ‘04 ID. The online marketplace allows  private residents to rent out their extra space, including vacation rentals, private rooms, entire apartments, bed and breakfasts, etc.

So, as Joe says on the website, if you are looking for a place to stay where the hospitality is genuine and the M&M’s don’t cost $6, check it out!

I think it is totally cool that RISD was founded by a group of tenacious women, after several unsuccessful attempts by a number of groups in the years previous to 1877! You can hear the whole story and more during a presentation and panel discussion with several of the contributing authors of Infinite Radius: Founding Rhode Island School of Design, a compendium of rare archival photographs, scholarly essays, previously unpublished manuscripts and reproductions of early acquisitions in RISD’s impressive collection of art and design. The public launch celebration will take place on Saturday, October 10, beginning at 1pm in the Metcalf Auditorium, followed by a book signing from 2–3pm in the first floor lobby of RISD’s Chace Center at 20 North Main Street.

If you can’t wait till then to purchase the book at risd|works or the risd:store, it may be ordered online!

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.

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!

We’ve gotten some calls recently from interested alumni and parents, wondering when oh when they will receive their RISD by Design brochures.  Not to worry!  The copy is in the final stages of being massaged as we speak, and will very shortly be bounced off to the printer and then the mailhouse to make its merry way to you.

And while we’re talking about the schedule for this year, let me just give you a sneak peak into some of the exciting changes we’re making!

• Student-guided classroom tours on Friday
• Students from each year talking about their experiences at RISD in a Friday panel
• President Maeda speaking with alums and students about critical thinking and making at RISD on Saturday morning
• An open Saturday sketch class in the Museum’s Main Gallery
• Saturday afternoon Health and Fitness Fair in the Met
• Saturday Open Studio Tours complete with student guides for all majors, and maps, along with some departmental open houses
• Saturday Kids’ Workshop in the Museum
• Alumni Show and Tell at the Tap Room on Saturday
• Successful alumni entreprenuers talking about their RISD experience and how they make a living at what they love in Metcalf Auditorium on Saturday

As you can see, we’ve been busy!  We look forward to providing you with all the details soon.