PROVIDENCE — He was carved nearly 1,000 years ago from the wood of a giant cryptomeria, a type of cypress native to Japan. Since then, he’s been worshiped as a god, survived a devastating fire, endured a lengthy ocean voyage and delighted generations of Rhode Island art lovers.
Still, there’s a good chance the majestic “Buddha Dainichi Nyorai” — better known as the RISD Museum’s big wooden Buddha — has never had it so good.
In an email to RISD faculty, Board Chair Michael Spalter has announced that the search for a new president is underway.
The board has appointed an 11-member search committee, which includes representatives from the RISD Museum, the faculty and the board of trustees.
The university has hired executive search firm Isaacson Miller to help with the search.
RISD’s former President John Maeda stepped down unexpectedly in the middle of the academic year to take a venture capital job in Silicon Valley.
Providence College recently granted $750,000 to be distributed over three years to the Smith Hill Community Development Corporation (CDC), a nonprofit organization whose mission and purpose is to provide safe, affordable housing for the people in the Smith Hill area of Providence. While several other local institutions of higher education have done and continue to do outstanding community work, I believe our partnership with the CDC is without precedent in Rhode Island.
The college has worked closely with the CDC, especially through our Feinstein Institute for Public Service. We have, for example, facilitated a number of programs for community youth. We have brought a number of our classes to an off-campus neighborhood site owned by the CDC (the PC/Smith Hill Annex on Douglas Avenue), with those classes being open to both PC students and to members of the local community. We also use the annex as meeting and program space in the community that is accessible to both college and community groups. In our latest partnership endeavor, the college and CDC have opened a fair-trade coffee café, also on Douglas Avenue. This small business is owned by the CDC, but run by a group of PC students.