This is a list of notable people from the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase the ...

Notable alumni

Academia

Business

Politics

Architecture

Interior design

Fine Art

Art collectives

* Forcefield **

Jim Drain Jim Drain (born 1975) is an American mixed media artist. Drain often makes work collaboratively, first within the collective, Forcefield (1996–2002) and also with artists Elyse Allen, Ara Peterson, and Ben Russell, respectively. Life and wor ...

(BFA 1998) — Artist **

Matt Brinkman Mat Brinkman (born 1973 in Austin, Texas) is an American artist and electronic musician. Also known as Matt Brinkman, Meerk Puffy, Mystery Brinkman, Brinkman, Brinkmangler, and Mucid Cuspidor. He is based in Colorado. History Brinkman was a ...

(BFA 1997) — Artist ** Ara Peterson (BFA 1997) — Artist

Art collectors and art dealers

Mary Boone Mary Boone (born c. 1951/1952) is an American art dealer and collector. Life Boone moved to New York City at the age of 19 from Erie, Pennsylvania to a working class family of Egyptian immigrants. She studied Art History at Rhode Island School o ...

(BFA 1973) — Owner of Mary Boone Gallery. *

David Whitney David Whitney (1939 – June 12, 2005) was an American art curator, collector, gallerist and critic. He led a very private life and was not well known outside the art world, even though he participated naked in the 1965 Claes Oldenburg happenin ...

(B. Interior Architecture 1963) — art collector and curator; longtime companion of architect

Philip Johnson Philip Cortelyou Johnson (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect best known for his works of modern and postmodern architecture. Among his best-known designs are his modernist Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the po ...

Digital arts

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

Guggenheim fellowships

MacArthur Fellowships

Multimedia, mixed media and installation

Painting

Photography

Printmaking

Sculpture

Fashion

Film and television

Actors

Furniture design

Glass

Graphic design

Illustration

Industrial design

* David Hanson (BFA FAV 1997) — Robotics designer of

Sophia (robot) Sophia is a social humanoid robot developed by the Hong Kong-based company Hanson Robotics. Sophia was activated on February 14, 2016, and made its first public appearance in mid-March 2016 at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas, United ...

* Charles Tsunashima (BFA Industrial Design, 1997, MFA Textiles 2000) — Industrial designer, Tama Arts University faculty

Literature

Music

Musical bands

Bands formed by students while attending RISD

=Black Dice – Formed in 1997

= *

Hisham Bharoocha Hisham Akira Bharoocha (born March 12, 1974 in Niigata, Japan) is an American musician and visual artist best known as an ex-member of the Providence bands Lightning Bolt and Black Dice. Currently, Bharoocha is involved in his band Soft Cir ...

(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

=Fang Island – Formed in 2005

=Les Savy Fav – Formed in 1995

= * Tim Harrington * Syd Butler

=Lightning Bolt – Formed in 1994

= *

(BFA 1998) — Artist and musician, former member of Black Dice and Lightning Bolt * Brian Chippendale (no degree) — Artist, founded

Fort Thunder Fort Thunder (1995–2001) was a warehouse on the second floor of a pre-Civil War former textile factory in the Olneyville district of Providence, Rhode Island. From 1995 through 2001, the space was used as a venue for underground music and events ...

* Brian Gibson (BFA 1998) — Artist *

Rubber Rodeo Rubber Rodeo was an American, Rhode Island-based band active in the 1980s. The band fused Roxy Music-influenced new wave music with country and western influences, and dressed in 1950's-vintage country & western clothing. Their 1984 release "Any ...

— band formed in 1980

=Talking Heads – Formed in 1974

= * David Byrne (no degree) *

Chris Frantz Charton Christopher Frantz (born May 8, 1951) is an American musician and record producer. He is the drummer for both Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club, both of which he co-founded with wife and Talking Heads bassist Tina Weymouth. In 2002, Frant ...

(BFA 1974) *

Tina Weymouth Martina Michèle Weymouth (born November 22, 1950) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and a founding member and bassist of the new wave group Talking Heads and its side project Tom Tom Club, which she co-founded with her husband, Tal ...

(BFA 1974)

Textiles

Pia Camil Pia Camil (born 1980) is a Mexican contemporary artist. Camil works in painting, sculpture, installation and performance. Biography Pia Camil was born in 1980 in Mexico City, Mexico. Camil was raised in Mexico City. Camil focused on studying ...

(BFA 2003) – contemporary artist * Cynthia Schira (BFA 1956) — textile artist known for adding relief and irregularity to weavings made on a Jacquard loom *

Ruth Adler Schnee Ruth Adler Schnee ( Adler; May 13, 1923 – January 5, 2023) was a German-born American textile designer and interior designer based in Michigan. Schnee was best known for her modern prints and abstract-patterns of organic and geometric forms. ...

(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.

Notable current and past faculty

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 Otto Heino (April 20, 1915 – July 16, 2009) and Vivika Heino (June 27, 1910 – September 1, 1995) were artists working in ceramics. They collaborated as a husband-and-wife team for thirty-five years, signing their pots ''Vivika + Otto'', regard ...

— ceramics

Film, animation, video

Janet Perlman Janet Laurie Perlman (born September 19, 1954) is a Canadian animator and children's book author and illustrator whose work includes the short film ''The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin'', which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animat ...

— animator, Oscar nominee for ''

The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin ''The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin'' is a 1981 Canadian animated short by Janet Perlman that comically adapts the tale of Cinderella with penguins. Produced by the National Film Board of Canada, it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best ...

'' * Steven Subotnick — professor in animation *

Yvonne Andersen Yvonne Andersen (born September 7, 1932) is an American animated filmmaker, author, and teacher. She is most well known for co-creating the Yellow Ball Workshop with her husband, Dominic Falcone. The Yellow Ball Workshop was a school for both ...

— professor in animation, department head

Illustration

* Fred Lynch (BFA 1986) — journalistic illustrator *

David Macaulay David Macaulay (born 2 December 1946) is a British-born American illustrator and writer. His works include ''Cathedral'' (1973), '' The Way Things Work'' (1988) and ''The New Way Things Work'' (1998). His illustrations have been featured in ...

(BArch 1969) — Illustrator and author * Barry Moser — Illustrator *

Kelly Murphy Kelly Murphy is an American author, illustrator and educator. She is based in Providence, Rhode Island. Early life Murphy was born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised in southeastern Massachusetts. She attended the Rhode Island School of Design ...

(BFA 1999) — Illustrator and author, E.B. White Award winner for '' Masterpiece'' *

Chris Van Allsburg Chris Van Allsburg (born June 18, 1949) is an American illustrator and writer of children's books. He has won two Caldecott Medals for U.S. picture book illustration, for ''Jumanji'' (1981) and ''The Polar Express'' (1985), both of which he a ...

— (MFA Sculpture 1975) children's book author/illustrator, Caldecott winner for ''

Jumanji ''Jumanji'' is a 1995 American fantasy adventure film directed by Joe Johnston from a screenplay by Jonathan Hensleigh, Greg Taylor, and Jim Strain. Loosely based on Chris Van Allsburg's picture book of the same name, the film is the first ...

'' and ''

The Polar Express ''The Polar Express'' is a children's book written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg and published by Houghton Mifflin in 1985. The book is now widely considered to be a classic Christmas story for young children. It was praised for its detai ...

'' * Lars Grant-West — Illustrator for

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games. It is currently a subsidia ...

Jewelry and metalsmithing

* John Prip — silver design

Painting

* Richard Merkin (MFA 1963) — Professor Emeritus, painter. * Duane Slick — painting faculty since 1995. * George William Whitaker — first instructor of oil painting * Mabel May Woodward — painting faculty for over 20 years; 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

Photography

Diane Arbus Diane Arbus (; née Nemerov; March 14, 1923 – July 26, 1971
" The New York ...

— Photographer * Harry Callahan — Photographer, former Chair of the Department of Photography *

Joe Deal Joseph Maurice Deal (August 12, 1947 – June 18, 2010) was an American photographer who specialized in depicting how the landscape was transformed by people. Life and work Deal was born in Topeka, Kansas on August 12, 1947, and was raised in ...

– photographer, Professor Emeritus, former Provost * Ann Fessler — author, filmmaker, installation artist, former Department Head and Graduate Program Director *

Henry Horenstein Henry Horenstein (born 1947) is an American artist, photographer, filmmaker and educator. He is the author of over 35 books, including a series of instructional textbooks. Life and work He studied history at the University of Chicago and earned ...

— Photographer * Aaron Siskind — abstract expressionist photographer who, with Callahan, founded the photography department at RISD

Printmaking

Andrew Raftery Andrew Stein Raftery (born May 22, 1962, in Goldsboro, North Carolina) is an American artist and educator, known for his paintings, burin engravings, and drawings on fictional and autobiographical narratives of contemporary American life. Biog ...

— engraver; has taught in the printmaking and painting department since 1991. *

Brian Shure Brian R. Shure (born 1952) is an American printmaker, painter, author and educator. He is best known for his mastery of printing techniques, knowledge of lesser known art techniques and has published multiple books about the art of chine-collé. ...

— master printmaker, realist painter, teaching from 1996 to 2016. *

Carol Wax Carol Wax (born June 17, 1953) is an American artist, author and teacher whom the ''New York Times'' called "a virtuoso Printmaking, printmaker and Art history, art historian" for her work in mezzotint and her writings on the history and techniqu ...

— printmaker, visiting artist and faculty in the printmaking department.

Sculpture

Gilbert Franklin Gilbert Alfred Franklin (1919–2004) was an English-born American sculptor and educator. He was active in Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, Rhode Island and Wellfleet, Massachusetts, Wellfleet, Massachusetts; and was best known for his public ...

(1919–2004; BFA 1941) — sculptor, teacher between 1942 and 1985, and former Dean of fine arts.

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 James Ingo Freed (June 23, 1930 – December 15, 2005) was an American architect born in Essen, Germany during the Weimar Republic. After coming to the United States at age nine with his sister Betty, followed later by their parents, he studi ...

– 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 Jane Silverstein Ries (1909–2005), also known professionally as Julia Jane Silverstein, was an American landscape architect who was the first woman licensed in Colorado as a professional landscape architect. For her landscape work as well as her ...

— first woman licensed in Colorado as a professional landscape architect *

Galia Solomonoff Galia Solomonoff AIA is an Argentinian-born architect and the founding creative director of New York-based architecture and design firm Solomonoff Architecture Studio. Her notable projects include Dia:Beacon; the Defective Brick Project; multiple ...

— Argentinian-born architect *

Friedrich St. Florian Friedrich St. Florian (born 1932) is an Austrian-United States, American architect. He moved to the United States in 1961, and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1973. Early life and education St. Florian was born Friedrich St. Florian Gartle ...

— architect, designer of

National World War II Memorial The World War II Memorial is a national memorial in the United States dedicated to Americans who served in the armed forces and as civilians during World War II. It is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The memorial consists ...

* Michael Webb —American architect

Landscape architecture

Mikyoung Kim Mikyoung Kim, FASLA is an American landscape architect, urban designer, and founding principal of Mikyoung Kim Design. Kim has received the Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt Award and the American Society of Landscape Architects National Design Medal. He ...

— landscape architect * Elizabeth Greenleaf Pattee — landscape architect

Furniture design

Tage Frid Tage Frid (30 May 1915 – 4 May 2004) was a Danish-born woodworker, educator and author who influenced the development of the studio furniture movement in the United States. His design work was often in the Danish-modern style, best known for h ...

— RISD professor of Woodworking and Furniture design from 1962 until 1985 also connected to the industrial design program. *

Jens Risom Jens Risom ( ; 8 May 1916 – 9 December 2016) was a Danish American furniture designer. An exemplar of Mid-Century modern design, Risom was one of the first designers to introduce Scandinavian design in the United States. Biography Risom was bo ...

— Furniture design

Graphic design

John Howard Benson John Howard Benson (July 6, 1901 – February 23, 1956) was an American calligrapher, stonecarver, incised letter designer, author, and educator. Career He was educated at Rogers High School, the National Academy of Design, and the Art Students ...

— Calligraphy, design theory, sculpture * Malcolm Grear — Professor Emeritus, graphic designer *

Mihai Nadin Mihai Nadin (born February 2, 1938 in Braşov, Romania) is a scholar and researcher in electrical engineering, computer science, aesthetics, semiotics, human-computer interaction (HCI), computational design, post-industrial society, and anticipa ...

— theorist, semiotics, computational design, HCI *

Ootje Oxenaar Robert Deodaat Emile "Ootje" Oxenaar (7 October 1929 – 13 June 2017) was a Dutch graphic artist, visual artist, commissioner, and professor. Biography Oxenaar was a student at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague and graduated in 1953 with hon ...

— 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

Industrial design

Marc Harrison Marc Harrison, (July 1, 1936- September 22, 1998) was an industrial designer, educator, and invented the idea of universal design to make products easier to use for people with disabilities as well as people without disabilities. Harrison invente ...

— industrial designer and pioneer of universal design and RISD professor of industrial design until his death in 1998 *

Victor Papanek Victor Josef Papanek (22 November 1923 – 10 January 1998) was an Austrian-born American designer and educator, who became a strong advocate of the socially and ecologically responsible design of products, tools, and community infrastructures ...

— designer and early pioneer of

universal design Universal design is the design of buildings, products or environments to make them accessible to people, regardless of age, disability or other factors. It addresses common barriers to participation by creating things that can be used by the ma ...

* Peter Yeadon — Industrial designer

Experimental and Foundation Studies Division

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

Liberal Arts Division

Mairéad Byrne Mairéad Byrne, born in Dublin, is an Irish poet who immigrated to the United States in 1994. Author of five poetry collections, and other works, she is a professor of poetry and poetics at Rhode Island School of Design. Education Byrne earned a ...

— poet *

Jhumpa Lahiri Nilanjana Sudeshna "Jhumpa" LahiriMinzesheimer, Bob ''USA Today'', August 19, 2003. Retrieved on 2008-04-13. (born July 11, 1967) is an American author known for her short stories, novels and essays in English, and, more recently, in Italia ...

— creative writing, author of the novel '' The Namesake''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhode Island School of Design

People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...