List of Rhode Island School of Design people

• Rebecca Allen (BFA 1975) — Pioneer of early computer art, installation art, interface design, professor and chair for the UCLA Design Media Arts[1]
• Ricky Allman (MFA 2007) — Painter, professor
• Deborah Berke (BFA 1975, BArch 1977, Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts 2005) — Dean and Professor at Yale School of Architecture[2]
• Andrianna Campbell (BFA 2001) – Art historian[3]
• Preston Scott Cohen (BArch 1983) — Architect; Director of the Architecture degree program at the Harvard Graduate School of Design
• Nader Tehrani (BArch 1986) — Dean, The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of the Cooper Union (2015—present), professor and head of the Department of Architecture, MIT (2010—2014); principal and founder of NADAAA

• Brian Chesky (BFA 2004) — Entrepreneur, CEO of Airbnb[4]
• Joe Gebbia (BFA 2004) — Entrepreneur, CPO of Airbnb[4]

• Samuel Azzinaro — Member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives[5]
• John Cebrowski — Member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives[6]

• Deborah Berke (BFA 1975; BArch 1977; Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts 2005) — Dean of Yale School of Architecture; Principal of Deborah Berke Partners.

• Preston Scott Cohen (BArch 1983) — Gerald M. McCue Professor in Architecture at Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD); Principal of Preston Scott Cohen, Inc.
• Michael Gabellini (BArch 1981) — Architect and interior designer, teacher at the Parsons School of Design
• Glenn Gissler (BArch 1984) — Architect
• Adam Charlap Hyman (BArch 2010) - Architect, designer, and artist
• Mary Richardson Kennedy — Architect and interior designer
• Richard Levine (BArch 1962) — Professor, green architect, and sustainability pioneer
• Michael Maltzan (BArch) — Principal and founder of Michael Maltzan Architecture
• Sam Posey (BFA Painting 1966) — New England car racer, painter and architect.[7][8]

• Ira Rakatansky (BArch 1942) — Providence-based architect[9]
• Nader Tehrani (BArch 1986) — Dean, The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of the Cooper Union (2015—present), professor and head of the Department of Architecture, MIT (2010—2014); principal and founder of NADAAA

• Jim Drain (BFA 1998) — Artist
• Matt Brinkman (BFA 1997) — Artist
• Ara Peterson (BFA 1997) — Artist

• Mary Boone (BFA 1973) — Owner of Mary Boone Gallery
• David Whitney (B. Interior Architecture 1963) — art collector and curator; longtime companion of architect Philip Johnson

• Rebecca Allen (BFA 1975) — Pioneer of early computer art, installation art, interface design, and professor[1]

• Janine Antoni (BFA 1989) — Artist, 1998 MacArthur Fellow
• James Carpenter (BFA 1972) — Glass sculptor, designer, 2004 MacArthur Fellow
• Nicole Eisenman (BFA 1987) — Painter, 2015 MacArthur Fellow
• David Macaulay (BFA 1969) — Writer, illustrator, 2006 MacArthur Fellow
• Josiah McElheny (BFA 1988) — Artist, sculptor, 2006 MacArthur Fellow
• Julie Mehretu (MFA 1997) — Artist, 2005 MacArthur Fellow[10]
• Anna Schuleit (BFA 1998) — Artist, 2006 MacArthur Fellow
• Shazia Sikander (MFA 1995) — Artist, MacArthur Fellow
• Kara Walker (MFA 1994) — Artist, 1997 MacArthur Fellow

• Romeo Alaeff (MFA 1996) — Artist, author, animation/film editor
• Janine Antoni (MFA 1989) — Artist
• Nicole Bartelme (BFA 1989) — Artist, film festival creator
• Ib Benoh (MFA 1980) — Artist
• Sarah Bostwick (BFA 2001) — Artist[11]
• Brian Bress (BFA 1998) — Artist
• Dan Colen (BFA Painting 2001) — NYC-based artist
• Cheryl Donegan (BFA Painting) — Contemporary artist
• Jim Drain (BFA Sculpture, 1998) — Artist, often makes work collaboratively
• Benjamin Edwards (MFA 1997) — Artist
• Shepard Fairey (BFA 1992) — Street artist, graphic designer, activist and illustrator
• Lauren Geremia (BFA 2004) — Interior designer[12]
• Jenny Holzer (MFA 1977) — Installation artist
• Roni Horn (BFA 1975) — Artist
• Elliott Hundley (BFA 1997) — Artist
• James Jaxxa (attended 199?) — Multimedia artist
• David Kracov (BFA 1990) — Sculptor, painter, and animator
• Mike Libby (BFA 1999) — Artist
• Mary Curtis Ratcliff (BFA 1967) — Artist[13]
• Marcus Reichert (BFA 1970) — Artist
• Mark Shasha (BFA 1983) — Artist
• Shahzia Sikander (MFA 1995) — Artist
• Phillip K. Smith III (BFA 1996) — Artist
• Tavares Strachan (BFA 2003) — Artist
• Do-Ho Suh (BFA 1994) — Artist
• Susan Thayer (BFA 1982) — Ceramic artist
• Ryan Trecartin (BFA 2004) — Artist
• Katie Vida (BFA 2004) — Interdisciplinary artist and curator
• Kara Walker (MFA 1994) — Artist
• Andrea Zittel (MFA 1990) — Artist
• Kevin Zucker (BFA 2000) — Artist

• Daniel Arango (MFA 2010) — Painter, visual artist
• David Bowes (attended, late 1970s) — Painter
• Erin Castellan (BFA) — Painter
• John Dilg (BFA 1969) — Painter
• Arthur S. Douglas (enrolled 1878) — Member of the inaugural class; student teacher[14]
• Nicole Eisenman (BFA 1987) — Painter
• Herbert Cyrus Farnum — 19th- and early 20th-century painter in Rhode Island.[15]
• Aaron Gilbert (BFA 2005) — Painter[16]
• Suzy González (MFA 2015) — Painter.[17]
• Bruce Helander (BFA 1969, MFA 1972) — Painter, collage and assemblage
• Jessica Hess (BFA Illustration 2003) – Realist painter[18][19]
• Håvard Homstvedt (BFA 2000) — Painter
• Julie Mehretu (MFA 1997) — Artist, densely layered prints and paintings[10]
• Richard Merkin (MFA 1963) — Painter, The New Yorker contributor, Prof. Emeritus RISD
• Laura Owens (BFA 1992) — Painter[20]
• Sam Posey (BFA Painting 1966) — New England car racer, painter and architect[7][8]
• Deborah Poynton — Realism painter, attended RISD for two years in 1987—1989 but did not graduate.[21]
• Francis Quirk (BFA 1930) — Painter
• Sonya Sklaroff (BFA 1992) — Artist, painter
• Anne Morgan Spalter (MFA 1992) — New media artist
• Andrew Stevovich (BFA 1970) — Artist
• Taravat Talepasand (BFA, 2001) — Iranian-American artist
• Kurt Wenner — Anamorphic street painter
• Mabel May Woodward (c. 1897) — Impressionist
• Zio Ziegler (BFA 2010) — Muralist and painter[22]

• David Akiba (MFA) — Photographer and teacher in the Boston area[23]
• Lukas Birk (MFA Printmaking 2017) — Photographer, author, archivist.[24]
• Bill Burke (BFA 1968, MFA 1970) – Documentary photographer.[25]
• Linda Connor (BFA) — Large-format photographer, currently teaches at the San Francisco Art Institute

• Jim Dow (MFA 1968) — Photographer
• Odette England (MFA 2012) — Photographer, curator, writer, currently teaches at Rhode Island School of Design
• Emmet Gowin (MFA 1967) — Photographer
• Jill Greenberg (BFA 1989) — Photographer
• Kathy Grove (BFA 1970) — Photographer
• Henry Horenstein (BFA 1971, MFA 1973) — Photographer, author, currently teaches at Rhode Island School of Design
• Deana Lawson (MFA Photography 2004) — Photographer,[26] currently teaches at Princeton
• Leigh Ledare (BFA 2000) — Photographer
• Laura McPhee (MFA 1986) — Photographer and teacher at Massachusetts College of Art
• David Benjamin Sherry (BFA Photography 2003) — landscape photographer[27]
• Timothy White (BFA 1979) — Celebrity photographer[28]
• Francesca Woodman (BFA 1978) — Photographer

• Val Britton (BFA 1999) — Artist, works on paper and installations[29]
• Brian Chippendale (no degree) — Musician with Lightning Bolt (band), graphic artist, poster artist[30]
• Arthur Deshaies (BFA 1948) — Artist, printmaker[31]
• Helen C. Frederick – artist, printmaker
• Jane Kim (artist) (BFA 2003) — Scientific illustrations and murals promoting advocacy of the natural world.[32]
• Sonia Romero (artist) (BFA 2002) — Printmaking, murals and public art in Los Angeles
• Pippi Zornoza (BFA 2001) — Poster artist and co-founder of the Dirt Palace feminist artist collective.[33]

• Janine Antoni (MFA 1989) — Studied sculpture, known for using her body as a creative instrument and site of meaning in works that blend performance, sculpture, video and photography[34]
• Howard Ben Tré (MFA 1980) — Glass sculptor[35]
• John Benson (artisan) — Studied sculpture, known for stone carving and typeface design[36]
• Huma Bhabha (BFA 1985) — Sculptor in New York[37]
• Karen LaMonte (BFA 1990) — Glass sculptor, known for representations of women’s dresses with the wearer absent[38][39]
• Ross Palmer Beecher — Studied sculpture, known for art from recycled and found objects[40]

• Diana Eng (BFA 2005) — Fashion designer; contestant on Project Runway
• Katie Gallagher (BFA 2009) — Fashion designer
• Robert Geller (BFA 2001) — Fashion designer; recipient of the GQ/CFDA Best New Menswear Designer Award 2009
• Mary Katrantzou — Fashion designer
• Nicole Miller (BFA 1973) — Fashion designer
• Ryan Jude Novelline (BFA 2012) — Contemporary artist; fashion designer
• Jill Stuart — Fashion designer

• Ilene Chaiken (BFA 1979) — Co-creator of The L Word, adapted The Handmaid's Tale for television, show-runner Empire
• Ben Coccio (BFA 1997) — Director of Zero Day
• Martha Coolidge (BFA 1968) — Director, Valley Girl (1983), Real Genius (1985), The Prince and Me (2004), Material Girls (2006)
• Michael Dante DiMartino (BFA 1998) — Co-creator and executive producer, Avatar: The Last Airbender
• Dan Golden (BFA 1994) — filmmaker, composer of Oscar-nominated film Feral
• Heather Henson (BFA 1995) — puppeteer and owner of IBEX Puppetry, sits on the board for The Jim Henson Company
• Christy Karacas (BFA FAV, 1997) — animator, musician, co-creator of Superjail![41]
• Bryan Konietzko (BFA 1998) — Co-creator and executive producer, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Invader Zim, and Family Guy
• Ellen Kuras — Cinematographer
• Mary Lambert (BFA 1974) — Director, Pet Sematary (1989), The in Crowd (2000)
• Seth MacFarlane (BFA Film, Animation, Video, 1996) — Filmmaker, actor, animator, comedian and singer; creator of Family Guy, American Dad!, The Cleveland Show and writer-director of Ted and Ted 2.[42]
• Joanna Priestley (attended 1972—1973) — Animator
• Robert Richardson (BFA 1979) — Academy Award-winning cinematographer
• Mark Shasha (BFA 1983) — Artist, author, illustrator, actor
• Leah Shore (BFA 2009) — Animator, film director, known for multiple award-winning short films Old Man and I Love You So Much
• Daniel Sousa (BFA 1994) — Animator, director of Oscar-nominated film Feral
• Helen Stickler (BFA 1991) — Director
• Charles Stone III (BFA 1988) — Director, Drumline (2002); creator of "Whassup?" Anheuser-Busch Budweiser commercial campaign
• Gus Van Sant (BFA 1975) — Director, My Own Private Idaho (1991), Good Will Hunting (1997), Finding Forrester (2000), Elephant (2003) Last Days (2006), Milk (2008)
• Todd Verow (BFA 1989) — Director

• James Franco (MFA 2012) — Actor, artist
• Sam Hyde (BFA 2007) — Actor, writer, comedian and co-creator of Million Dollar Extreme Presents: World Peace
• Jemima Kirke (BFA 2008) — Artist, actor, TV show Girls
• Martin Mull (BFA 1965, MFA 1967) — Actor, comedian, painter
• Ben Powers — Actor in the CBS sitcom Good Times (1978—79)[43]
• Charles Rocket (c.1967—1972) — Former Saturday Night Live cast member; actor[44]

• Amy Devers (MFA Furniture Design 2001) — Furniture designer; television personality[45]
• Judy Kensley McKie (BFA Painting 1966) — Furniture designer[46]
• Brodie Neill (MFA Furniture Design 2004) — Furniture designer[47]
• Josh Owen (MFA Furniture Design 1998) — Furniture designer[48]
• Emi Ozawa (MFA Furniture Design 1992) — Artist[49]
• Matthias Pliessnig (BFA Furniture Design 2003) — Furniture designer[50]
• Misha Kahn (BFA Furniture Design 2011) — Artist
• Charles Tsunashima (BFA Industrial Design 1997, MFA Textiles 2000) — Furniture designer, Tama Arts University faculty
• Janice Smith (MFA 1981) — Furniture designer
• Rosanne Somerson (BFA Industrial Design 1976) — Furniture designer; RISD professor, Furniture Design department head, Provost, and RISD President from 2015–present

• Martin Blank (BFA 1984) — Glass artist
• Dale Chihuly (MFA 1968) — Glass artist; founder of glass art program at the Rhode Island School of Design;[51] co-founder of Pilchuck Glass School
• Katherine Gray (MFA 1992) — Glass artist
• Paul Housberg (BFA 1975, MFA 1979) — Fused and kiln-formed glass artist
• Mary Shaffer (BFA 1965, Illustration) — Glass artist[52]
• Therman Statom (BFA 1974) — Glass artist

• Tobias Frere-Jones (BFA 1992) — Type designer
• Tom Geismar (BFA) — Identity designer and corporate identity pioneer; designed marks for NBC, Mobil, Chase, Xerox, and MoMA
• Prince Carl Philip, Duke of Värmland (Carl Philip Edmund Bertil) (2007–2008, no degree) — Graphic Design studies for one year[53]
• Michael H. Riley — Emmy Award-nominated designer and founder of design company Shine
• Michael Rock (MFA 1984) — Co-founder and partner of 2x4; Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award recipient
• Jessica Walsh — Founder of creative agency & Walsh, former partner at Sagmeister & Walsh studio; Art Directors Club "Young Gun"

• Roz Chast (BFA 1977) — Cartoonist
• Elizabeth Updike Cobblah, (MAT) — Illustrator and teacher, daughter of John Updike
• Christopher Denise (BFA 1990) — Illustrator of children's books, including many in the Redwall series
• Shepard Fairey (BFA 1992) — Street artist, graphic designer
• Jon Foster (BFA 1989) — Illustrator
• Steven Kellogg (BFA 1963) — Children's book illustrator
• Bryan Konietzko (BFA 1998) — Co-creator and executive producer, Avatar: The Last Airbender animated series
• Sonny Liew (BFA 2001) — Comic book writer, artist
• Grace Lin (BFA 1996) — Writer, illustrator
• Fred Lynch (BFA 1986) — Journalistic illustrator
• David Macaulay (BArch 1969) — Writer, illustrator, 2006 MacArthur Fellow
• David Mazzucchelli — Comic artist and author of Asterios Polyp
• Kelly Murphy (BFA 1999) — Writer, illustrator
• Antoine Revoy (BFA 1999) — Writer, illustrator
• Paolo Rivera (BFA 2003) — Comic book artist
• Brian Selznick (BFA 1988) — Writer, illustrator
• Mark Shasha (BFA Illustration 1983) — Writer, illustrator
• Walt Simonson (BFA 1972) — Comic book writer, artist
• Chris Van Allsburg (BFA) — Children's book illustrator, Caldecott winner
• David Wiesner (BFA 1977) — Illustrator, Caldecott winner

• Michael Hoard (BFA Industrial Design, 1999) - Founder & CEO at Michael Hoard Consulting[54]
• David Hanson (BFA FAV 1997)[55] — Robotics designer of Sophia (robot)
• Stuart Karten (BFA Industrial Design, 1978) — Industrial designer and founder of KartenDesign[56]
• Charles Tsunashima (BFA Industrial Design, 1997, MFA Textiles 2000) — Industrial designer, Tama Arts University faculty[57]

• Charlotte Perkins Gilman (attended 1878) — author of The Yellow Wallpaper; feminist
• Kenneth Goldsmith (BFA 1984) — poet, WFMU DJ, founding editor of UbuWeb
• Manjushree Thapa (BFA 1989) — Writer, Forget Kathmandu, Tilled Earth, Tutor Of History

• Oliver Ackermann (BFA Industrial Design) — musician, A Place to Bury Strangers
• Paul Curreri (BFA 1998) — songwriter / guitarist / producer
• Chris Keating (BFA Film, Animation, Video, 2004) — musician, Yeasayer[58]
• Justin Lo (BFA 1999) — Hong Kong singer, composer and record producer
• Marissa Nadler (MFA 2003, MAT 2004) — singer-songwriter
• Heather Nova (BFA 1989) — singer-songwriter
• Jesse Sykes (BFA 1989) — singer-songwriter
• Veronica Vasicka (BFA 1997) — DJ, radio show host, producer and owner of Minimal Wave Records

Bands formed by students while attending RISD

• Hisham Bharoocha (BFA 1998) — Artist and musician, former member of Black Dice and Lightning Bolt
• Sebastian Blanck (BFA 1998) — Artist and musician, former member of Black Dice

• Tim Harrington
• Syd Butler

• Hisham Bharoocha (BFA 1998) — Artist and musician, former member of Black Dice and Lightning Bolt
• Brian Chippendale (no degree) — Artist, founded Fort Thunder
• Brian Gibson (BFA 1998) — Artist
• Rubber Rodeo — band formed in 1980

• David Byrne (no degree)
• Chris Frantz (BFA 1974)
• Tina Weymouth (BFA 1974)

• Cynthia Schira (BFA 1956) — textile artist known for adding relief and irregularity to weavings made on a Jacquard loom[59]
• Ruth Adler Schnee (BFA 1945) — a founding figure of contemporary textile design in America and best known for her modern prints and abstract-patterns of organic and geometric forms.[60]

The Fine Arts Division includes the following departments; ceramics, film/animation/video, glass, illustration, jewelry and metalsmithing, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, and textiles.

• Otto and Vivika Heino — ceramics

• Janet Perlman — animator, Oscar nominee for The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin[61]
• Steven Subotnick — professor in animation
• Yvonne Andersen — professor in animation, department head

• Fred Lynch (BFA 1986) — journalistic illustrator
• David Macaulay (BArch 1969) — Illustrator and author
• Barry Moser — Illustrator
• Kelly Murphy (BFA 1999) — Illustrator and author, E.B. White Award winner for Masterpiece
• Chris Van Allsburg — (MFA Sculpture 1975) children's book author/illustrator, Caldecott winner for Jumanji and The Polar Express
• Lars Grant-West — Illustrator for Wizards of the Coast

• John Prip — silver design

• Richard Merkin (MFA 1963) — Professor Emeritus, painter
• Duane Slick — painting faculty since 1995[62]
• George William Whitaker — first instructor of oil painting[63]
• Mabel May Woodward — painting faculty for over 20 years;[64] during the early 20th century introduced the "action class," in which students studied the human figure as a machine rather than as a stationary object[65]

• Diane Arbus — Photographer
• Harry Callahan — Photographer, former Chair of the Department of Photography
• Joe Deal – photographer, Professor Emeritus, former Provost
• Ann Fessler — author, filmmaker, installation artist, former Department Head and Graduate Program Director
• Henry Horenstein — Photographer
• Aaron Siskind — abstract expressionist photographer who, with Callahan, founded the photography department at RISD

• Andrew Raftery — engraver; has taught in the printmaking and painting department since 1991[66]
• Brian Shure — master printmaker, realist painter, teaching from 1996 to 2016[67]
• Carol Wax — printmaker, visiting artist and faculty in the printmaking department

The Architecture and Design Division includes the following departments; apparel design, architecture, furniture design, graphic design, industrial design, and landscape architecture.

• Thomas Bosworth — former Chair of Department of Architecture; Seattle architect; Professor Emeritus University of Washington
• Norman Isham — Rhode Island historical architect
• Friedrich St. Florian — architect, designer of National World War II Memorial
• Monica Ponce de Leon — architect, designer of the Fleet Library

• Tage Frid — RISD professor of Woodworking and Furniture design from 1962 until 1985[68] also connected to the industrial design program.[69]
• Jens Risom — Furniture design

• John Howard Benson — Calligraphy, design theory, sculpture
• Malcolm Grear — Professor Emeritus, graphic designer
• Mihai Nadin — theorist, semiotics, computational design, HCI[70]
• Ootje Oxenaar — Dutch graphic designer, designer of acclaimed but now vanished Dutch currency
• Michael Rock — graphic designer; writer; design professor at Yale University MFA graphic design program
• Nancy Skolos — graphic designer, co-founder of Skolos-Wedell studios, teaching at RISD since 1989
• Paul Soulellis — American graphic designer, artist, publisher and teacher; founder of Library of the Printed Web[71]

• Marc Harrison — industrial designer and pioneer of universal design and RISD professor of industrial design until his death in 1998[72]
• Victor Papanek — designer and early pioneer of universal design[73]

• Mark Milloff — Painter, foundations faculty

• Mairéad Byrne — poet
• Jhumpa Lahiri — creative writing, author of the novel The Namesake