Illustration MFA Anthologies
The Illustration MFA Anthologies are "....essays by the students of RISD’s Illustration Practice MFA program, variously reflecting upon their thesis projects, or their creative practice more generally. It allows us an opportunity to chart the many themes and perspectives that inform their work—to notice moments of both overlap and divergence."
"[These anthologies] not only offer us a window into their individual practices, but also provides a glimpse of the spirit and camaraderie that underscores their experience as a cohort. The very making of [an] anthology is a reflection of that collective spirit, and you will find many traces of that process embedded throughout [these] books—be it in the titles, the covers, or the little stories interspersed among the essays." –
From Something Around Storytelling, Illustration MFA Anthology 2025 Forward
Ruchika Nambiar, Editor
Faculty, Publishing the Thesis Seminar, Spring ‘25
Critic, Department of Illustration, RISD
-
Voices | RISD MFA Illustration Anthology 2026
Illustration Department and Illustration MFA
The Master of Fine Arts degree program in Illustration Practice began in 2022. This anthology features its third cohort. Each student designed their own chapter and co-created the cover imagery and plasiticene portraits. The cover, table of contents, and layout of portraits were collaboratively made. Associate Professor Jaleen Grove provided art direction, editing, technical support, plasticene, the photo of the studio, and design of other front and back matter. We thank our Graduate Program Director, Professor Susan Doyle, for establishing this program and wish her well in her coming retirement. Thesis Projects by MFA Candidates in Illustration, Rhode Island School of Design, 2026.
-
Something Around Storytelling | RISD MFA Illustration Anthology 2025
Illustration Department and Illustration MFA
What follows is a collection of twelve essays by the students of RISD’s Illustration Practice MFA programme, variously reflecting upon their thesis projects, or their creative practice more generally. It allows us an opportunity to chart the many themes and perspectives that inform their work—to notice moments of both overlap and divergence. This anthology not only offers us a window into their individual practices, but also provides a glimpse of the spirit and camaraderie that underscores their experience as a cohort. The very making of this anthology is a reflection of that collective spirit, and you will find many traces of that process embedded throughout the book—be it in the title, the cover, or the little stories interspersed among the essays.
Other than following a broadly defined template, these essays have been designed independently by each student in whatever manner best captured their work and thoughts. So you’ll find moments of cohesion existing in the interstices of this book, while the essays themselves are rather varied and free-flowing in form. As you read, I encourage you to look up these twelve artists and their work more deeply—this book has only enough pages to capture a mere sliver of their rich and varied artistic lives.
Editor Ruchika Nambiar Faculty, Publishing the Thesis Seminar, Spring ‘25 Critic, Department of Illustration, RISD
-
{Re}Considering Illustration | RISD MFA Illustration Anthology 2024
Illustration Department and Illustration MFA
The essays in this volume have been created by the candidates of the inaugural cohort of the Masters of Fine Arts in Illustration Practice at the Rhode Island School of Design. The writings provide an overview of some of the ideas, research methods and artistic concerns addressed by the candidates through their art over the two-year span of their graduate studies.