Faculty & Librarian Work

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Material Order: A Discovery Group and Shared Catalogue for Materials Collections

Mark Pompelia and Margot McIlwain Nishimura

Material Order is an academic consortium of material sample collections for art, architecture, and design disciplines. Founded by the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University and Fleet Library at Rhode Island School of Design and since comprising several more institutions in the US, it provides a community-based approach to management and open access utilizing and developing standards and best practices. Now in its twelfth year and reaching a level of maturation, Material Order offers research and pedagogical value to current and potential members and the larger design communities.
Marcin Giżycki Animated Film Fest

Marcin Giżycki, Theory & History of Art & Design Department, and Fleet Library

The Fleet Library and dear friends of Marcin Giżycki (1951-2022) presented an evening of award-winning animated films on April 8th, 2023 at 6:30pm made by Marcin in Poland and in Providence, including “A Sicilian Flea,” “Panta Rei,” “Stone Story,” “Kinefaktura,” “Wave,” “Evening,” “Aquatura,” “Theatrum Magicum,” “FH,” “Arrow Game,”, “White Curtain”, and his most recent documentary, “RISD Cabaret Story,” devoted to the legendary wintersession class which ran from 1987 to 2000. See more: RISD Cabaret 1987-2000.
RISD Cabaret Story

Marcin Giżycki, Agnieszka Taborska, Liberal Arts, and Theory & History of Art & Design Department

The Fleet Library and dear friends of Marcin Giżycki (1951-2022) presented an evening of award-winning animated films on April 8th, 2023 at 6:30pm made by Marcin in Poland and in Providence, including “A Sicilian Flea,” “Panta Rei,” “Stone Story,” “Kinefaktura,” “Wave,” “Evening,” “Aquatura,” “Theatrum Magicum,” “FH,” “Arrow Game,”, “White Curtain”, and his most recent documentary, “RISD Cabaret Story,” devoted to the legendary wintersession class which ran from 1987 to 2000. See more: RISD Cabaret 1987-2000.
Performing Collective Identity: Bodies and Objects of Early-Modern Processions

Pascale Rihouet and Theory & History of Art & Design Department

"At the intersection of art and ritual, processional paraphernalia endorse crucial roles for collective identity: creating and maintaining group unity, building solidarity in the face of crises, and possibly offering disruptions of law and order or signaling outcasts. The aesthetic appeal of carefully-crafted artefacts (from candles to flags, canopies, reliquaries, etc) is essential but must be studied together with performativity, objects being the material essence of ritual.

The conditions of their display, the precise modes of their manipulation, and their staged fixity or mobility enable them to turn into symbolic, powerful agents. External signs of identity like uniforms, badges, banners, or statues belong to this phenomenon. In this seminar, I will present how consensual behavior and shared body language affect the power of objects and images for collective identity, with examples from Perugia, Venice, and Rome. I will address questions on research methods for a cross-disciplinary approach to (art) history and discuss visual representations while critically evaluating different types of evidence." Pascale Rihouet

Speaker: Pascale Rihouet (Rhode Island School of Design) Respondents: Lilla Mátyók-Engel, Carlotta Paltrinieri (Bibliotheca Hertziana). Pascale Rihouet (PhD Brown University / EHESS) is senior lecturer in art history at the Rhode Island School of Design. She has widely published on Renaissance art and ritual, early-modern material culture and group identity in English, French and Italian. Her first book, Art Moves: The Material Culture of Processions in Renaissance Perugia (Brepols, 2019) was followed by Eternal Ephemera: The Papal Possesso and its Legacies in Early Modern Rome (Toronto University Press, 2020) that she co-edited and co-authored. She is currently working on the whole production of possesso prints (1589–1846), images of the newly-elected pope’s parade through Rome.
Framing Questions and Modes of Inquiry in Illustration Process and Critique

Robert Brinkerhoff

Every creative act begins with a question—whether consciously or unconsciously formed—and illustrators may enhance their approaches to visual problems by framing a line of critical inquiry that invigorates conceptualization. While inventories and lists of questions are suitable ways to begin, there exist many different modes of questioning—verbal and non-verbal, manual and cognitive, linear and discursive, intuitive and rational, integrative and deconstructive. This chapter explores diverse methods for inquiry in problem definition and resolution, describing a variety of models and incorporating observations by professional artist-educators to expose different strategies for illustrators.
Present and Future Adventures in Illustration

Jaleen Grove and Illustration Department

This article discusses current trends and the future of illustration. Several illustrators and educators are interviewed, such as Anita Kunz, Armando Veve, Barbara Nessim, and Martin Salisbury. Topics include publishing, virtual reality, children's books, diversity and representation, high tuition, and the lesser respect and pay that many illustrators experience. The article also relates the history of American illustration 1959-2019 in the form of a tongue-in-cheek boardgame The Illustration Game, in which players advance through the years, encountering typical events in the industry. The game-board is scattered with historical funny-in-hindsight quotes of well-known illustrators, designers and other professionals, which illuminate the thinking of the day.
The Illustration Game: Quotes & Notes

Jaleen Grove and Illustration Department

Liner noes included with The Illustration Game boardgame providing sources of quotes and in-depth commentary by creator Jaleen Grove.
The Illustration Game

Jaleen Grove and Illustration Department

A satirical survey of the history of American illustration 1959-2019 in the form of a boardgame.
Tactile Libraries: material collections in art, architecture and design

Mark Pompelia, Fleet Library, and Rebecca Cooper Coleman

Collections of material samples to support teaching and research in art, architecture, and design disciplines are increasingly created and administered through academic libraries. Providing a unique and valuable hands-on and immersive experience, materials collections offer broad appeal across multiple disciplines and respond to curricular trends that emphasize critical and design thinking skills for students as future practitioners. Institutional collections may have a broad scope or a particular focus such as innovation or sustainability, the built environment, or textiles. Acquisition strategies, organizational approaches, and curricular programming must be adapted to the immediate needs of a particular school, offering opportunities for art and design libraries to engage deeply with research and teaching.

Material holdings can facilitate creative inspiration or research-level interrogation, enhanced through programs such as exhibits, lectures, and workshops. With contents, scope, and academic applications wildly varying among materials collections, no standardized descriptive taxonomy or physical arrangement standards yet exist, pointing to the need for collaboration both within and between institutions.

This chapter is part of the book: Glassman, Paul, and Judy Dyki. 2017. The handbook of art and design librarianship.
Veronese’s Goblets: Glass Design and the Civilizing Process

Pascale Rihouet and Theory & History of Art & Design Department

Taking its cue from Veronese’s lavish Wedding at Cana (1563), this article explores the meanings of fine and ordinary glassware, focusing on the performative value of Renaissance goblets. Drinking vessels are analyzed here as tools for the gradual transformation of human behavior, or the ‘Civilizing Process’ that sociologist Norbert Elias expounded. In the mid-sixteenth century, new designs for fine glasses supported and shaped the proper conduct expected of guests and servants in banquets. Iconographic sources such as the exquisite wine cups depicted by Veronese, didactic literature and the objects themselves document the kind of challenges and expectations that handling glass in public induced. By the end of the sixteenth century, the affordability of simple but elegant goblets allowed common people to adopt the drinking manners of the elite, thus furthering the association between glassware and the concept of civility.
The Providence River Relocation Project

Architecture Department and Bruner Foundation

The Providence River Relocation project in Rhode Island’s capital city redirected rivers, overhauled transit infrastructure, and created a new riverfront downtown. Thirty years in the making, the relocation of the Woonasquatucket and Moshassuck rivers, construction of a new rail station, highway interchanges, and twelve bridges restored historical links among Providence’s Capital Center, College Hill, and downtown. The project improved traffic flow in and through downtown and added pedestrian-friendly spaces, including 1.5 miles of river walks, along with a new urban park including a restaurant, amphitheater, fountain, and boat landing.

Redirecting the rivers created new, marketable commercial land without demolishing existing buildings in the downtown national register, resulting in over $1 billion in development. The project re-knit adjacent neighborhoods and created public arts and cultural programming that attracts locals and tourists alike to the river’s edge. With an emphasis on small urban spaces within the large-scale redevelopment, the project uses high-quality materials, and the design of the lighting, landscaping, street furniture, tree grates, signage, and historical interpretation panels all welcome the public.

"The Providence River Relocation project pays great attention to the visual, tactile, and social support aspects of each design decision as well as imparting information on history and architectural heritage." 2003 Selection Committee
Two Photographers: Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind

Photography Department, Peter O'Neill, Ronald Binks, Harry Callahan, Aaron Siskind, and RISD Archives

A candid look at Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind. The film alternates between both photographers as they discuss their work, technique and philosophy ; are shown in classroom crits with students ; and actively at work discussing what it is they're trying to achieve with particular shots.