In an ongoing series of interviews the professionals at the Rhode Island School of Design answer a series of questions designed to help undergraduate and graduate students who think they may want to major in art, design or architecture.
Can you briefly describe the flavor and feel of your campus?
Prospective students, their families, teachers and guidance counselors are encouraged and welcome to visit RISD’s riverfront campus in historic Providence, where they may tour the facilities on their own or participate in the information programs offered regularly.
How many students do you have?
Approximately 1900 undergraduate students and 400 graduate students.
What is your largest major?
Architecture.
What percentage of your student body has some kind of financial aid?
Approximately 50%
Besides learning the nuts and bolts of creating art, how do you prepare your students business-wise for a career in the arts?
Seminars through continuing education on business / marketing in arts + design, such as the "Art of Business" program, which included speakers on copyright, contracts, networking / regional business resources, creative entrepreneurism, business essentials / action planning, licensing, marketing and promotion, and accounting,
How is your college involved in the community in which it is located?
RISD students contributed a total of more than 15,000 in volunteer hours in the city of Providence last year.
What is unique about your college that makes it the best choice for attending?
- Art + Design Education - background in both art and design / interdisciplinary approach / design research / sponsored studios -
- RISD combines both art and design for most effective results – one side teaches students to ask the questions, the other to create the solution
- This approach is truly unique to RISD and provides a rich forum for students and faculty to share contemporary ideas about pedagogy and research
- Students come seeking exchange of ideas across disciplines that can help them formulate the questions that will drive their work and enable them to address the issues of our time – imbue cultural sensitivity, creating workforce to be responsible citizens – art/design education at RISD feeds back into liberal arts – consilient approach
- Graduate enrollment at RISD has more than doubled in last decade, bringing heightened interest in advanced research and interdisciplinary learning - successful design outcomes are the consequence of collaborations among many people with different skill sets and attitudes, challenging conventional wisdom
- Curriculum nurtures “fluent thinkers” by giving students the tools to generate their own investigations - choreographs a process with no known outcome, simply define a question or concept and find a resolution
- RISD's curriculum also recognizes the need for ecological sensitivity and encourages student artists and designers to consider environmental issues in creating works of cultural aesthetic benefit. RISD understands the need to think globally, to teach its students about the many cultures and ways of thinking that will give them the necessary perspective to help shape the world in which we live.
- Unique Facilities: the RISD Museum, the Nature Lab and the Fleet Library at RISD -
Faculty
The faculty at RISD are practicing and renowned artists, designers, architects and scholars with outstanding records of accomplishment in their respective fields, and they draw on their professional experience and personal energy to help each student navigate the journey from untested talent to accomplished artist.
Whether they're internationally-recognized authors and illustrators, experimental glass artists and sculptors, architects, inventors or designers in their own right, the faculty share an uncommon capacity to support and encourage students, guiding them in the development of their own talent and providing them with the confidence and clarity of vision to make the most of it.
Check out the Rhode Island School of Design site here.
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