Faculty Newsbits Two new installations by Professor Rachel Berwick 84 GL, head of Glass, are included in The Singing and the Silence: Birds in Contemporary Art, which continues through February 22 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC.
Playing Dress Up Students raided their roommates’ closets and ransacked discount clothing stores to get dolled up for the annual Artists’ Ball in October. Party-loving zookeepers, video game heroes and blow-up breakfast pastries were just some of the alter egos that made appearances at the techno party held at the Bank of America City Center. Taking short breathers from the dance floor, students stopped by the Center for Student Involvement’s photo booth to ham it up for the camera. Regrettably, the liberated young gent who wore nothing but a pair of women’s skivvies and sparkly high heels didn’t deign to have his photo taken.
Earlier this fall, Ceramics Critic Simone Leigh presented Free People’s Medical Clinic, a provocative and topical installation, at Stuyvesant Mansion in Brooklyn. In November Foundation Studies Critic Clara Lieu 98 IL exhibited new work in two solo shows—at Simmons College’s Trustman Gallery in Boston and at Framingham [MA] State University.
Faculty Titans Move On
Several RISD people spoke and presented workshops at the July biennial gathering of the Handweavers Guild of America in Providence,
Last spring 10 faculty members and librarians who have made a huge impact on generations of students retired. After 50 years at RISD, the impact of Professor Wil Yoder BArch 62 and his approach to teaching structure will long be felt in the Architecture department. Graphic Design Professor Hans Van Dijk, who taught at RISD for 28 years and served as department head from 1993–2000, also retired in June. Foundation Studies lost three living legends: Professor Christina Bertoni , Professor Jack Massey and Professor Ted Weller. In addition, Professor of History, Philosophy + the Social Sciences Ned Dwyer, an expert on the ancient architecture of Mesoamerica, retired this year, along with Printmaking Professor Randa Newland, Associate Professor of Apparel Design Donna Gustavsen 70 AP and librarians Elinor Nacheman and Laurie Whitehill Chong 70 IL. For more on faculty, go to our.risd.edu/tagged/risd-faculty.
including interim President Rosanne Somerson 76 ID, Textiles Senior Critic Susan Sklarek MFA 77 SC, Textiles Department Head Brooks Hagan MFA 02 TX and Anne Emlein MFA 06 TX. In August designers from around the world convened on Jeju Island for the 2014 Korea Bojagi Forum, directed by Textiles Critic Chunghie Lee, who showed her own work along with a collaborative piece created by RISD students. Assistant Professor Mary Anne Friel and Jiyoung Chung 02 PT also presented at the forum.
FALL/WINTER 2014/ 15
53