Woods-Gerry is purportedly haunted by Marshall Woods, its original owner.
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WORDS M O R E O R L ESS
The exhibit is eerie. It is a really breathtaking show. from a review of The Strangest Fruit, a current show by Vincent
Real art happens inside your mind.
Ghost Stories A number of alums couldn’t resist commenting on RISD’s Facebook page after Emily Neilson 15 FAV wrote a story on our most renowned ghosts for The All-Nighter. First, a few excerpts from Emily’s piece: The streets we live on are drenched in shadowed history. The hours that traditionally belong to the spirits, the phantoms and the forgotten are also the hours when we are all too awake—drooping over charcoal-caked fingers and dim computer screens. It is little wonder that we might feel a chill in our spines or see a shadow lurch as we walk down creaking basement stairs or wander lamplit streets. Perhaps you don’t believe in ghosts? Based on where you are living, you might have reason to. Woods-Gerry is haunted by its original owner: Marshall Woods. Visitors’ cameras occasionally lose battery power when they enter the gallery and then recharge after they’ve left. His ghost has been seen and heard in the galleries, appreciating the artwork. But Marshall Woods is utterly benign compared to the other ghost that haunts the building…. When [Farnum Hall] was standing it was occupied by the ghosts of several children whose whispers and giggles filled the hallways. Students reported seeing figures standing over their beds when they awoke at night. The ghost activity was very severe and [once the building became structurally unsound] it stood empty (but for its ghosts) before being demolished.
Valdez 00 IL (see also page 81)
Oded Ezer, 2013 Graphic Designer in Residence
Perhaps the ghosts still wander those lonely, flat patches of grass, brooding over this poor substitute for the grand apartment building they once enjoyed. A few comments from Facebook: Rain Gregoire Rebis BArch 08: Very short true story: In 2003 a friend was rooming in Barstow. One late night as we were doing self-portraits for Alba’s transfer studio, the closet door opened of its own accord, which wasn’t too weird, until the closet then closed, then the hall door opened and closed as if something had left the closet and went into the hallway. Leslie Kahn BArch 84: Five of us
spent the night at the Alumni House (when it existed) and we all felt a presence brushing against us. No one slept a wink. Lauren Bergholm 02 FAV: OMG this has made me so nostalgic! So much love for Dexter House and its creepy basement!
at a talk in the RISD Auditorium (10.1.13)
People thought you were crazy for coming to RISD. President John Maeda welcoming new students at Convocation (9.9.13)
Well before my imagination was my vocation, my imagination saved my life. Jarrett Krosoczka 99 IL, 2013 Mindshare keynote speaker (10.11.13) from his earlier TedX talk
All boundaries can be crossed—as soon as you allow your mind to do so. Jessie Chen 13 FAV speaking at Commencement 2013 (see also page 49)
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