List of Rhode Island School of Design people explained

This is a list of notable people from the Rhode Island School of Design.

Notable alumni

Fine Art

Art collectives

• Forcefield
  • Jim Drain (BFA 1998) — Artist^[1]
  • Matt Brinkman (BFA 1997) — Artist
  • Ara Peterson (BFA 1997) — Artist

Art collectors and art dealers

• Mary Boone (BFA 1973) — Owner of Mary Boone Gallery.^[2]
• David Whitney (B. Interior Architecture 1963) — art collector and curator; longtime companion of architect Philip Johnson.^[3]

Digital arts

• Rebecca Allen (BFA 1975) — Pioneer of early computer art, installation art, interface design, and professor

Sculpture

Film and television

Actors

Industrial design

• David Hanson (BFA FAV 1997)^[4] — Robotics designer of Sophia (robot)
• Charles Tsunashima (BFA Industrial Design, 1997, MFA Textiles 2000) — Industrial designer, Tama Arts University faculty^[5]
• Archduke Dominic of Austria, Prince of Hungary and Bohemia, Prince of Tuscany (BFA Industrial Design, 1960)

Music

Musical bands

Bands formed by students while attending RISD

Black Dice – Formed in 1997

• Hisham Bharoocha (BFA 1998) — Artist and musician, former member of Black Dice and Lightning Bolt
• Sebastian Blanck (BFA 1998) — Artist and musician, former member of Black Dice

Les Savy Fav – Formed in 1995

• Tim Harrington
• Syd Butler

Lightning Bolt – Formed in 1994

• Hisham Bharoocha (BFA 1998) — Artist and musician, former member of Black Dice and Lightning Bolt
• Brian Chippendale (no degree) — Artist, founded Fort Thunder
• Brian Gibson (BFA 1998) — Artist
• Rubber Rodeo — band formed in 1980

Talking Heads – Formed in 1974

• David Byrne (no degree)
• Chris Frantz (BFA 1974)
• Tina Weymouth (BFA 1974)

Textiles

• Pia Camil (BFA 2003) – contemporary artist^[6]
• Cynthia Schira (BFA 1956) — textile artist known for adding relief and irregularity to weavings made on a Jacquard loom^[7]
• Ruth Adler Schnee (BFA 1945) — a founding figure of contemporary textile design in America and best known for her modern prints and abstract-patterns of organic and geometric forms.^[8]

Notable current and past faculty

See also: List of presidents of the Rhode Island School of Design.

Fine Arts Division

The Fine Arts Division includes the following departments; ceramics, film/animation/video, glass, illustration, jewelry and metalsmithing, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, and textiles.

Ceramics

• Otto and Vivika Heino — ceramics

Film, animation, video

• Janet Perlman — animator, Oscar nominee for The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin^[9]
• Steven Subotnick — professor in animation
• Yvonne Andersen — professor in animation, department head

Illustration

• Jean Blackburn (artist) (BFA 1979) — archaeological illustrator, sculptor, and painter^{[10] [11]}
• Fred Lynch (BFA 1986) — journalistic illustrator
• David Macaulay (BArch 1969) — Illustrator and author
• Barry Moser — Illustrator
• Kelly Murphy (BFA 1999) — Illustrator and author, E.B. White Award winner for Masterpiece
• Chris Van Allsburg — (MFA Sculpture 1975) children's book author/illustrator, Caldecott winner for Jumanji and The Polar Express
• Lars Grant-West — Illustrator for Wizards of the Coast

Jewelry and metalsmithing

• John Prip — silver design

Painting

• Richard Merkin (MFA 1963) — Professor Emeritus, painter.
• Duane Slick — painting faculty since 1995.^[12]
• George William Whitaker — first instructor of oil painting^[13]
• Mabel May Woodward — painting faculty for over 20 years;^[14] during the early 20th century introduced the "action class," in which students studied the human figure as a machine rather than as a stationary object^[15]

Photography

• Diane Arbus — Photographer
• Harry Callahan — Photographer, former Chair of the Department of Photography
• Joe Deal – photographer, Professor Emeritus, former Provost
• Ann Fessler — author, filmmaker, installation artist, former Department Head and Graduate Program Director
• Henry Horenstein — Photographer
• Aaron Siskind — abstract expressionist photographer who, with Callahan, founded the photography department at RISD

Printmaking

• Andrew Raftery — engraver; has taught in the printmaking and painting department since 1991.^[16]
• Brian Shure — master printmaker, realist painter, teaching from 1996 to 2016.^[17]
• Carol Wax — printmaker, visiting artist and faculty in the printmaking department.

Sculpture

• Gilbert Franklin (1919–2004; BFA 1941) — sculptor, teacher between 1942 and 1985, and former Dean of fine arts.^[18]

Architecture and Design Division

The Architecture and Design Division includes the following departments; apparel design, architecture, furniture design, graphic design, industrial design, and landscape architecture.

Architecture

• Thomas Bosworth — former Chair of Department of Architecture; Seattle architect; Professor Emeritus University of Washington
• James Ingo Freed – American architect
• Norman Isham — Rhode Island historical architect
• Manfredi Nicoletti — Italian architect
• Monica Ponce de Leon — architect, designer of the Fleet Library
• Jane Silverstein Ries — first woman licensed in Colorado as a professional landscape architect
• Galia Solomonoff — Argentinian-born architect
• Friedrich St. Florian — architect, designer of National World War II Memorial
• Michael Webb —American architect

Landscape architecture

• Mikyoung Kim — landscape architect
• Elizabeth Greenleaf Pattee — landscape architect

Furniture design

• Tage Frid — RISD professor of Woodworking and Furniture design from 1962 until 1985^[19] also connected to the industrial design program.^[20]
• Jens Risom — Furniture design

Graphic design

• John Howard Benson — Calligraphy, design theory, sculpture
• Malcolm Grear — Professor Emeritus, graphic designer
• Mihai Nadin — theorist, semiotics, computational design, HCI^[21]
• Ootje Oxenaar — Dutch graphic designer, designer of acclaimed but now vanished Dutch currency
• Michael Rock — graphic designer; writer; design professor at Yale University MFA graphic design program
• Nancy Skolos — graphic designer, co-founder of Skolos-Wedell studios, teaching at RISD since 1989
• Paul Soulellis — American graphic designer, artist, publisher and teacher; founder of Library of the Printed Web^[22]

Industrial design

• Marc Harrison — industrial designer and pioneer of universal design and RISD professor of industrial design until his death in 1998^[23]
• Victor Papanek — designer and early pioneer of universal design^[24]
• Peter Yeadon — Industrial designer

Experimental and Foundation Studies Division

• Dawn Clements — foundations faculty
• Mark Milloff — painter, foundations faculty

Liberal Arts Division

• Mairéad Byrne — poet
• Jhumpa Lahiri — creative writing, author of the novel The Namesake

Notes and References

1. Web site: Kuffner. Alex. 2018. Providence basketball courts' 'murals' a fast break from the norm. providencejournal.com. en.
2. Web site: 2016-12-29. The RISD Connection. 2021-02-27. Cultured Magazine. en-US.
3. News: Kennedy. Randy. 14 June 2005. David Whitney, 66, Renowned Art Collector, Dies. The New York Times.
4. News: 'Meet the Future' at a Feb. 28 Ubben Lecture Featuring David Hanson and His Robot Creation, Sophia . DePauw University. January 12, 2018.
5. Web site: Our RISD – Hot fun in the summertime! Things heated up for.... Our RISD. August 3, 2015 . January 12, 2018.
6. Web site: Radin. Sara. 2019-12-03. Pia Camil turns old T-shirts into art. 2021-06-01. i-D. en.
7. Book: Koplos, Janet.. Makers : a history of American studio craft. 2010. University of North Carolina Press. Metcalf, Bruce, 1949–, Center for Craft, Creativity & Design.. 9780807895832. Chapel Hill. 658203695.
8. Web site: Ruth Adler Schnee Bio. Michigan Modern. September 29, 2017.
9. Book: Lenburg, Jeff. Who's Who in Animated Cartoons: An International Guide to Film and Television's Award-Winning and Legendary Animators. 1 June 2006. Applause Books. 978-1-55783-671-7. 283–284.
10. Web site: Adams . Abraham . April 2017 . Critics' Picks: Rafius Fane Gallery . 2023-06-26 . . en-US.
11. Web site: Jean Blackburn, Template, 2002 . 2023-06-26 . RISD Museum.
12. Book: American Indians and Popular Culture: Media, Sports, and Politics. ABC-Clio. 2012. 9780313379901. Volume 1 of American Indians and Popular Culture. Santa Barbara, California. 201–202.
13. Web site: George William Whitaker. Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame. January 23, 2016.
14. News: Woodward is back in the limelight. October 2, 1992. The Providence Journal. Providence, RI. D16. Siclen. Bill. .
15. News: Paintings of Mabel Woodward: Art: Providence impressionist. October 10, 1972. Boston Globe. Boston, Mass. 18. Taylor. Robert. .
16. Web site: Andrew Raftery. RISD. April 6, 2015.
17. Web site: RI Art Archive Project: In The Studio: Brian Shure. December 17, 2015.
18. Book: Kohl . Benjamin G. . The Centennial Directory of the American Academy in Rome . Linker . Wayne A. . Kavelman . Buff Suzanne . 1995 . American Academy in Rome . American Academy in Rome, American Academy in Rome Society of Fellows . 978-1-879549-02-9 . en.
19. Web site: Tage Frid the Great Dane. February 16, 2014. Rainforest Restorations. December 18, 2015.
20. Web site: Celebrating ID Mentors @RbD. Our RISD. October 16, 2015 . October 20, 2017.
21. Web site: An Interview with Mihai Nadin. Gillespie. Thom. indiana.edu. May 10, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160915233516/http://www.mime.indiana.edu/mihaiNadin/. September 15, 2016. dead.
22. Web site: Paul Soulellis at Rhode Island School of Design . November 12, 2023 . https://conifer.rhizome.org/heyneff/wikipedia/20180707051733/https://www.risd.edu/people/paul-soulellis/ . July 7, 2018 . live .
23. News: Marc Harrison. June 16, 2010. Industrial Designers Society of America – IDSA. October 20, 2017.
24. News: Victor Papanek: An Early Champion of Good Sense. Rawsthorn. Alice. May 15, 2011. The New York Times. December 6, 2018. 0362-4331.