RISD

Anina Major MFA 17 CR at RISD Craft 2016. | photo by Jo Sittenfeld MFA 08 PH

After several years of working in graphic design, Bahamian-born grad student Anina Major MFA 17 CR returned to school as a fine arts major eager to inspire others with what she has discovered through the act of making. Technically speaking, her current work combines weaving with the creation of clay objects, but the ceramist is still motivated by the same desire to communicate that drew her to graphic design.

“Art is a vehicle for dialogue,” says Major, who makes time to work in the RISD Writing Center and contribute to the our.risd blog when she’s away from the studio. And though the written word is no longer prominent in the finished product, writing – and the desire to speak that moves people to write – is still central to her process.

“Writing helps me to clarify my thoughts in a way that helps me make decisions about materiality, technique and the message I want to convey through a piece,” Major says. In fact, she sees her role as a black, female artist from outside the world’s core art centers as a statement in itself. “At a time when inclusivity matters so much, I am inevitably contributing to that discourse,” she says, embracing the opportunity to do so.

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The competition starts as students take measurements in Providence’s historic Aldrich House. | photo by Jo Sittenfeld MFA 08 PH

Each year faculty members in Interior Architecture surface a real-world design project for an intensive, department-wide charette – a five-day competition in which teams of students work together to solve a single architectural challenge. This year the Rhode Island Historical Society (RIHS) provided a design problem perfectly aligned with the department’s focus on adaptive reuse: reimagining a small study in its historic, Federal-style Nelson W. Aldrich House on College Hill.

As RIHS Executive Director C. Morgan Grefe explained at the charette kickoff in late October, the house was built in 1821 and is listed on the US National Register of Historic Places. Used as both a history learning lab and a space for rotating exhibitions, the 15×23-foot room in question is also rented out on occasion for private functions such as weddings.

“Your proposals should respect the room’s history while embracing the cutting edge,” urged Critic Elizabeth Debs, who organized this year’s charette. “You’ll be folding history and heritage into a contemporary understanding of a multipurpose space.”

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Professor Jim Barnes BArch 69 encourages grad student Alice Zhen MArch 17 to be courageous in her design. | photo by Jo Sittenfeld MFA 08 PH

The idea of launching an arts high school affiliated with RISD has been in the air for decades, so when Architecture Professor Jim Barnes BArch 69 was thinking about a theme for his advanced fall studio, he decided to resurrect it. Given the Architecture department’s ongoing interest in engaging with young people in the community – for example, its partnership with Providence’s Lincoln School for girls – and Barnes’ long-term commitment to organizations like the ACE Mentoring program for architecture, construction and engineering, it was a suitable choice.

Each of the 10 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in the class is designing a sustainable two- to three-story art and design high school that could theoretically be constructed along RISD’s riverfront on South Water Street or at the intersection of Wickenden and South Main streets.

The studio aims to provide students with a deep understanding of how highly specialized programming informs the exterior form of a building along with its material character. In addition, Barnes expects each design to be net zero energy efficient and, ideally, to relate aesthetically to existing buildings in the neighborhood.

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Illustration major Patrick Hulse 17 IL finds inspiration everywhere, but especially in childhood memories and family stories.

Patrick Hulse 17 IL says that before he came to RISD he was incredibly shy. But once his Foundation professors made it clear that students need to talk during crits, he began to share his ideas – tentatively at first, but then with increasingly more certainty. “People said, ‘We like what you’re saying, talk more,’” he recalls incredulously. “It was such an empowering experience. I learned at RISD that my voice matters.”

Once Hulse began to share his thoughts, the floodgates opened and his confidence soared. By the middle of junior year, he decided to run for president of the Student Alliance, RISD’s student governing body. “I never in a million years would have imagined myself in this role,” he says. “But the opportunity presented itself and I went for it.”

The Student Alliance is “here to make things happen for RISD students,” Hulse explains. “We serve on academic committees, meet important people and have access to a lot of information that we share with the rest of the student body.”

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