Rhode Island School Of Design

The mission of RISD, founded in 1887, 'through its college and museum, is to educate its students and the public in the creation and appreciation of works of art and design, to discover and transmit knowledge and to make lasting contributions to a global society through critical thinking, scholarship and innovation.'

Founded in 1877, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) is one of the nation's preeminent schools for art and design. Its mission is to educate its students and the public in the creation and appreciation of works of art and design, to discover and transmit knowledge, and to make lasting contributions to a global society through critical thinking, scholarship, and innovation. RISD pursues this mission both through the School and its acclaimed Museum of Art. RISD enrolls 1,878 undergraduates and 380 graduate students from diverse cultural backgrounds in the U.S. and almost 50 other countries; over 500 students graduate each year, and 89% work directly or indirectly in the field of study they pursued at RISD. Collectively, RISD’s alumni are tremendously influential. Consider, for example, that the 2006 MacArthur Fellows included five who work in the visual arts—four of them RISD graduates.

Salamander continues RISD’s long history of innovative publicly engaged art and design projects, including, for example, designing the CVS-funded, universally accessible tree house at Roger Williams Park Zoo. Among the assets that RISD brings to the proposed project are its highly accomplished faculty; a powerful and innovative tool for video collaboration developed at RISD; and extensive experience in art and design education. Daniel Peltz, Project Director, is a leader in his field and has implemented similar programs with diverse populations, including work with pediatric and adolescent patients at Bradley Hospital; an international collaboration between RISD students and peers in Cameroon and France; and a new federally-funding digital media arts program that will bring students from Argentina, Finland, Jordan, Kenya, Korea and the US to RISD this summer.