Feeling bored and uninspired by all that reading you put off until now? Or don’t know what to do with yourself other than obnoxiously brag to your worn-out friends about how early you’ve finished finals?

Whichever category you fall under, you should take advantage of the annual TEDxProvidence conference from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the RISD Auditorium this Saturday, May 11.

While Brown held its own TEDx event this past semester, the Providence conference boasts an impressive list of speakers with ties to the area, including Rhode Island state poet and Brown professor Rick Benjamin; Umberto Crenca, the founder of AS220; and Cassandra Lin, an RI high school student whose U.N.-recognized nonprofit works to convert kitchen grease to fuel and has offset over 2 million pounds of carbon emissions. Not that what you’ve been doing with your time isn’t important or anything. [Read more →]

So this kinda came out of nowhere, but apparently Brown’s UCS and RISD’s Student Alliance came together to put on the first ever Brown/RISD Lawn Party this Saturday from 1-5 pm on Benefit St. (between College and Waterman).  Not only will there be an actual lawn, the party will feature a beergarden (Ed.- the beer isn’t free, but still, yay beer!), food trucks, a photobooth, music, volleyball, and, most importantly, plastic flamingos.  This should be a pretty dope opportunity to take some time off from studies, (hopefully) enjoy the sunshine, and get some RISD kids to make you feel inadequate about your own artistic abilities paint your face.

I had heard of the Blue Room before, but in about the same capacity that I’d heard of Blue Beard. Or Black Beard for that matter. It was something that had been mentioned once or twice in passing; most people didn’t know where it was or how to get there. It was Narnia and dual degree students seemed to be the only ones who knew how to climb through the wardrobe  find it.

It wasn’t until my third year at RISD that I realized it was right in front of me the whole time. There it was, right on the way to Thayer. It wasn’t very blue, but it sold red velvet cupcakes the size of small children, so I was happy. A new place to spend all my income on pastries so close to studio, the Blue Room was a pleasant surprise. But I was a little shocked that it had taken me so long to realize it even existed, and that non-Brown students could go. Then it occurred to me: if I know so little about navigating the Brown greens after three years of living across the street, chances are there are probably a few Brown students who know just as little about RISD. Providence is small community, and yet Brown and RISD, while close in physical proximity, can feel so separate and far away from one another. Food could be a good way to bridge that gap. Because honestly, whats more compelling than a well-made sandwich?

Consider this course in your shopping schedule: a crash course on RISD dining. If you’re looking to return to Providence in the new year with some new places to eat, you probably will find that this course will provide you with invaluable information.  [Read more →]

A bit over a month ago, I attended a GZA show in Boston and thought to myself “Gosh, I wish I could take a class with this guy. I mean, he’s a f*cking GENIUS.”  Yesterday, RISD’s STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Art Math) initiative made this dream come true by bringing The Genius (born Gary Grice) himself to the RISD Auditorium. The talk that transpired was ostensibly a discussion of GZA’s career and Dark Matter, his upcoming science-inspired album that has been years or, according to the rapper, decades in the making. Yet after GZA’s talk I emerged not with a newfound interest in physics, but rather a greater appreciation for curiosity, artistry and how the two, for artists of GZA’s stock, are ultimately one in the same. [Read more →]

Last weekend marked the end of of what can only be described as a tumultuous Halloweek. For RISD kids, the week-long, homemade, half-assed costume binge that not even a hurricane could stop ended with one final display of costuming: Artist Ball. RISD’s only school run dance, Artist Ball is a spectacle of innovative and witty costumes and drunk students dancing like Luna Lovegood to loud dubstep. This year’s dance featured Chihuly Glass like balloon sculptures and live dance performances by Providence’s own Big Nazo puppets. Like every Artist Ball, people got separated from their friends in the huge crowd, everyone lost their coats, something funky got stuck in the chocolate fountain, and we found out that the quiet kid from your drawing section freshman year actually made a pretty convincing Lil Kim and could move his hips like Beyonce. Here’s a roundup of some of the best costumes from Artist Ball. Brace yourselves: these costumes will completely blow you away.

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The wise sage Jason Mraz once said, “The sophomore slump is an uphill battle.” Sure, it may seem that way, but we’re here to make that hill a little less daunting. Introducing The Anti-Slump, a new series that gives you the motivation to win that uphill battle. So flock to us whenever you feel the slump creeping up on you — we’ll be here every other week with another helpful piece of guidance or generally inspirational tid-bits to help you shake up your sophomore year.

The myth of the sophomore slump is real. But it doesn’t have to be. Sophomore year is a time when academics get more serious, things get familiar enough for you to breathe, and a lowly second-year realizes how much of Brown there is left to discover. But sophomore year is all about motivating yourself — and that’s where we come in — because there’s no one else that’s going to force you to. At this stage in the game there are no Meikeljohns, First-Year Seminars or unit meetings, but there are still so many questions left unanswered.

To start you off, here is a lil bucket list that we have compiled, which will help us motivate ourselves, too. We’re setting the bar high and so should you! It’s all about keeping up the ambition. Check it out after the jump.

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If you’ve ever wondered if modeling was your true calling but haven’t had a place to practice your Blue Steel or Tyra Smize, here’s something for you to try: On Thursday, October 11, from 7:00–9:00 p.m. the RISD apparel department is having an open casting call for student models (male or female; all shapes and sizes—short/tall, skinny/not skinny) to model garments for its fall and spring collections. Open call is at Market House. And just to clarify: no, it is not nude modeling for drawing class. All models will be fully clothed. Please come clothed.

That smile could launch a thousand Megs.

Seth MacFarlane, beloved RISD alumnus and creator of the controversial (yet lovable) cartoon show Family Guy, will host the Academy Awards this year.

We all remember the clusterfuck that went down two years ago: James Franco completely forgot that he was going to host the Oscars all together, much less that his co-host would be Anne Hathaway. Watching a guy with the weirdest smile known to man emcee the biggest event in cinema while flat-out baked was…unfortunate. If he had any shame he might have atoned for his Hollywood sins by actually cutting off that arm.

To ensure that the younger generation of talent wouldn’t totally flop again, the Academy wisely played it safe with the classic Billy Crystal the following year. Everyone, young and old, can agree that last year’s Oscars was wonderfully refreshing and nostalgic at the same time: a trusted man hosting a show that gives awards to trusted actors like Meryl Streep and Christopher Plummer.

Sure, MacFarlane is certainly a change of pace from good ol’ Billy Crystal. Entertainment Weekly attributes the selection of MacFarlane to his rise in celebrity over the past year, from his appearance on SNL to his box office hit Ted.  If you think way back when to when you had time to watch Family Guy, there are countless episodes that poke fun at sophisticated cinema and some that feature full-blown musical numbers. So remember that while he is a absurdly funny guy, Seth MacFarlane knows his shit. He’s also the undisputed master of gratuitous tangents, so expect an obscene amount of offbeat non sequiturs.

Who knows…maybe he will be great. Maybe he’ll even pull a Ricky Gervais at the Emmys and have to host the following year just to make amends with all the actors he offends. Regardless, we’re pumped that one of College Hill’s own will get his shot on the big stage.

Image via.

It stared with pom poms—small, fuzzy, seemingly innocuous pom poms. It ended with a rejection email from the casting director of TLC Broadcasting and a newfound hatred of Tori Spelling. But let’s start with the pom poms. They were my gateway craft and this is my story.

Second grade.  This is when my trouble began. “Mrs. E” was a tired teacher, exhausted by the endless screams and giggles of small children. She would shovel glitter and glue sticks and pom poms into our small eager palms and sigh “craft time” before she shuffled outside to smoke a cig.  We had pipe cleaners and finger paint and more googly eyes than any child knew what to do with. For the rest of the class, craft time was just an opportunity to get a bead stuck up your nose. For me, it was sweet solace.

This was well before I knew I would end up at RISD, well before I figured out my energy could be channeled into more fruitful artistic endeavors. Haunted by the image of Barney and his far superior craft box, I was hungry for more projects. As the years went on—and many Christmases passed where it was pretty much guaranteed that in that handmade box with the handmade bow was a small handmade present made by me—my crafting compulsion spiraled out of control.

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“Dude, we’ve been planning this for a while, haven’t we?” I asked a friend of mine, who prefers to remain anonymous. We’ll call him Keenan.

“Yeah, but we’re actually fucking doing it. We’re actually fucking going to the other side of the Hill,” he mused, lacing up his new Nikes like they were armor. Our pulses thumped in our throats and were drunk with the exotic lure of the place.

There’s a Hall & Oates song called “So Close” which contains these lyrics: So close, yet so far away. We believe in tomorrow, maybe more than today. Daryl Hall and John Oates often strike my steely heart, their words like a flint. But this time, the resulting spark lit a strong urge. RISD, our redheaded, sulky stepsister, had lurked in my skull for too long as just a murky ghost.

Who were these too-hip brooders? I had heard whispers, seen glimpses, but I wanted to crawl right down into the belly of the beast and understand our cigarette-wolfing, wanton pseudo-siblings that were so close, yet so far away. [Read more →]