Rhode Island School of Design

The Venetian Renaissance Waterman Building (1893) was the first permanent home for the school

The Centennial Women[5] were a group formed to raise funds for a separate Women's Pavilion showcasing women's work at the 1876 Centennial Exposition.[6] In a little over a year the RI women raised over $10,000 with spectacles such as: a recreation of the burning of the Gaspee that drew a crowd of 9,000, the writing and publication of a monthly newspaper, Herald of the Century, and an art exhibition. The Women's Pavilion at the 1876 Centennial successfully highlighted women's "economic right to self-sufficiency" and included exhibits from recently founded design schools, displays of new patents by women entrepreneurs, and a library containing only books written by women. The Rhode Island Centennial Women submitted their newspaper, Herald of the Century, to this Women's Pavilion's library.

At the end of the World's Fair, the RI Centennial Women had $1,675 left over and spent some time negotiating how best to memorialize their achievements.[6] Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf proposed that the group donate the money to found what would become Rhode Island School of Design, and this option was chosen by a majority of the women on January 11, 1877. The school was incorporated on March 22, 1877[7] and opened its doors the following fall at the Hoppin Homestead in downtown Providence, RI.[8] Metcalf directed the school until her death in 1895. Her daughter, Eliza Greene Metcalf Radeke, then took over until her death in 1931.[9]

The 1885 Dr. George W. Carr House houses a student cafe and lounge

The Rhode Island General Assembly ratified "An Act to Incorporate the Rhode Island School of Design" on March 22, 1877, "[f]or the purpose of aiding in the cultivation of the arts of design". Over the next 129 years, the following original by-laws set forth these following primary objectives:

The Rhode Island Hospital Trust Building houses dormitories and the school's Fleet Library

1. The instruction of artisans in drawing, painting, modeling, and designing, that they may successfully apply the principles of Art to the requirements of trade and manufacture.
2. The systematic training of students in the practice of Art, in order that they may understand its principles, give instruction to others, or become artists.
3. The general advancement of public Art Education, by the exhibition of works of Art and of Art school studies, and by lectures on Art.

In 2014, U.S. News & World Report ranked RISD first amongst Fine Arts programs.[10] In 2019 RISD was ranked 4th by the QS World University Rankings amongst Art & Design programs.[11] Its undergraduate architecture program ranked 6 in DesignIntelligence's ranking of the Top Architecture Schools in the US for 2019.[12] In 2018, the institution was also named among Forbes’ America's Top Colleges[13] and the Chronicle of Higher Education's Top Producers of US Fulbright Scholars.[14]

The RISD Museum houses the school's collections of art

The Chace Center contains both exhibition and studio space

The RISD Museum was founded in 1877 on the belief that art, artists, and the institutions that support them play pivotal roles in promoting broad civic engagement and creating more open societies. The RISD Museum stewards works of art representing cultures from ancient times to the present from around the globe.

RISD has many athletic clubs and teams.[15] As might be considered fitting for an arts school, the symbolism used for the teams is unique. The hockey team is called the "Nads", and their cheer is "Go Nads!"[16] The logo for the Nads features a horizontal hockey stick with two non-descript circles at the end of the stick's handle.

The basketball team is known simply as the "Balls", and their slogan is, "When the heat is on, the Balls stick together."[16][17] The Balls' logo consists of two balls next to one another in an irregularly shaped net.[18]

Lest the sexual innuendo of these team names and logos be lost or dismissed, the 2001 creation of the school's mascot, Scrotie, ended any ambiguity. Despite the name, Scrotie is not merely a representation of a scrotum, but is a 7-foot tall penis,[19] with scrotum and testes at the bottom.[20] In 2016, the school reported that the 2009 incarnation of the mascot had been deemed not appropriate for younger fans, and so the mascot would return to its earlier, "more cartoonish" appearance.[21]

Goods by RISD makers and designers can be found on RISDmade, an online marketplace of alumni-produced products,[22] and at RISD Craft, a juried sale held each October in Providence.[23]

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• Official website