As we approach RISD by Design weekend, we get many calls regarding where to stay in and around Providence. For your lodging pleasure, we have compiled a list, which includes, at the top of the page, those hotels with which we have special weekend rates.

Now that we’ve found you someplace to stay, how about telling us where all your friends got off to? We’ve posted all our lost reunion year alumni here. Let us know if you have a lead on their whereabouts!

Now we know who’s not around, want to know who is? You can find a real-time list of attendees here.

Thanks for stopping by! We’ll see you in October!

Hello RISD friends! A long title, but the only way I summarize how I feel at the moment.

This year, I decided to spend my summer holiday here in Providence for the first time. I work in the Development Office, which has been a treat. I’ve been enjoying the quiet albeit slightly soggy days, visiting with other straggler friends, moving into and fixing up my first apartment, and learning about the organization and practicalities of the College Annual Fund. It’s been an engaging behind-the-scenes look at how everything works; an interesting complement to the two years I spent as a Phonathon caller for the College Annual Fund. The most exciting part of my summer, however, has been … reading about all of you! I’ve been given the opportunity to put together the 50th reunion booklet for the RISD graduating class of 1958. I’ve been delighted to read your stories, hear about your achievements, your families, your loves, your epiphanies. Designing the reunion booklet has made me reflect on my own RISD experiences. I’ve perused old issues of Blockprint, read your senior yearbook cover to cover, and been delighted to see the people you “grew up” to be. In the anticipation for the fall, my senior year and beyond, I have also come to anticipate the RISD By Design Weekend just as much.

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From 1965-1967, my mother worked for RISD. She was an administrative assistant but back then they called them secretaries. When I was growing up, my mother used to talk about working there(here) and she always seemed to have fond memories. She especially liked to reminisce about a young man named Martin Mull who would come into her office and play the guitar. She also had a work-study student named Ruth (Dealy), who eventually became a teacher at RISD and is now a well known local painter.

Now some four decades later, I am the Executive Chef at RISD. Currently, I have survived and usually enjoyed four RISD by Designs. This year will be my fifth. As each one passes, I spend more time at the school wondering if I won’t be talking to my own children, years from now, about who I fed at some special event or what student I befriended that ended up becoming a ‘name’ in the artistic community. It is a fascinating prospect to think of the future creators, mingling with the past creators, in the present. One of the best aspects of RISD by Design is the bridging of generational gaps through art; the best part for me is, that like art, food tends to bring people together on common ground.

Come one, come all, and take our inaugural poll! More to come, and if you have ideas for others, please email me!

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Although not an alumna, Claire Robinson is the next best thing - a dedicated, hard working, creative staffer, who cares about RISD. Here’s a photo of Claire and I, taking a break from our work.

Claire has been working to coordinate the efforts of the RISD By Design committee to ensure that RBD ‘08 is the best one yet. Thank you Claire!

Your one stop for everything regarding our Alumni + Parents Weekend this October 10-12^th, 2008!

This blog and revamped website are both portals into the RISD world—a chance to let you know what’s going on this October, who will be coming, and what goes into making a weekend like this happen. It’s a community-wide effort—which is why we hope that everyone in our community will visit us—alumni, parents, students, staff and faculty.

My name is Claire Robinson, and I work as Associate Director of Special Events here at RISD, and organize the weekend along with Christina Hartley, our Director of Alumni Relations + Special Events. I will be posting tidbits about the weekend as we barrel through the rest of the summer and into the fall.

But, like I said, it’s the people who make the weekend, so we’ll also be hearing from people celebrating their 5^th to 50^th reunions, as well as current parents, faculty and staff …..I am a baker, and although I hate to use the cookie metaphor, you know that even the pinch of salt you leave off can adversely affect the outcome of your final product—so we need everyone to be included!

This is a place for all of us to get informed and excited about the weekend. If you’re interested in doing more than commenting, or have any other concerns or items you’d like addressed, please feel free to contact me.

I hate to quote bad pop songs (ok, maybe I secretly love it)…..

Let’s get this party started!