Thursday, October 6, 2022

Grist/Liberal Arts Panel Discussion and Reception
6:30 pm
Metcalf Auditorium, RISD Museum
On the night before the inauguration of President Williams, RISD’s Liberal Arts Division and the Nature Culture Sustainability Studies Master’s program will host a dynamic discussion around “new spaces” crossing art, social justice, and community through Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors, an initiative by Fix, Grist’s solutions lab. Writers and visionaries in climate solutions come together to discuss decolonizing and diversifying climate storytelling as well as the role that climate fiction plays in creating climate solutions. Reception to follow.
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Friday, October 7, 2022

Investiture Ceremony
10–11:30 am
Inauguration Tent, 220 South Water Street
All are invited to the historic investiture of Rhode Island School of Design’s 18th president Crystal Williams.

Community Celebration
12–2 pm
Market Square
Following President Crystal Williams’ Inauguration, join us for a celebration in Market Square and Memorial Park featuring lunch, entertainment and a surprise giveaway. 

New Space(s) Inauguration Symposium | Opening Keynote Conversation
2:30–3:30 pm
Inauguration Tent, 220 South Water Street
Artist Shahzia Sikander MFA PT/PR 95, television producer Ilene Chaiken GD 79 P 18 and architect Michael Maltzan BArch 85 P 24 will discuss the power and potential of New Space(s) in art, design and entertainment.

Open Studios
3:30–5:30 pm
All Department Buildings (no tickets required)
Discover RISD Space(s) by visiting departmental galleries to see how faculty and students have responded to the theme of “New Space(s).”
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New Space(s) Inauguration Symposium | Panels
4–5:30 pm
20 Washington Place Auditorium
On the Lands We Occupy
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4–5:30 pm
RISD Auditorium, Auditorium Building
On The Place of Art, Design and the Humanities
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4–5:30 pm
Metcalf Auditorium, RISD Museum
On the Politics of Collecting and Display
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The New Space(s) Inauguration Symposium continues at 10:30 am on Saturday.  

WaterFire Lighting
6:30–9 pm
Market Square (no tickets required)
A unique Providence tradition dating back 27 years, WaterFire is an experience that embraces all of the senses! Braziers along the Providence River in front of RISD Auditorium and Market Square will be lit in a celebration of community, beauty and the inauguration of RISD’s 18th president. 

Block Party
8–11 pm
Market Square
Celebrate the inauguration of President Williams with music and dancing!

All RISD classes and studios have been suspended for Friday, October 7 so that all may participate in inauguration festivities.

Saturday, October 8, 2022

Breakfast Sessions for RISD Families
8:30 am–12 pm
The First-Year Experience and Beyond! Please register here for family programming.

Open Studios
10 am–4 pm
All Department Buildings (no tickets required)
Discover RISD Space(s) by visiting departmental galleries to see how faculty and students have responded to the theme of “New Space(s).”
LEARN MORE >

RISD Craft
10 am–4 pm
Benefit Street (no tickets required)
RISD Craft features handmade fine art and design work by over 130 artists, both juried alumni and current students. The work on view speaks to the quality, attention to detail and mastery of craftsmanship students and alumni hone at RISD and bring to their own practices in a wide variety of media.

New Space(s) Inauguration Symposium | Panels
10:30 am–12 pm
RISD Auditorium, Auditorium Building
On the Politics of Space
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12:30–2 pm
RISD Auditorium, Auditorium Building
On Translating Across Space
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2:30–4 pm
20 Washington Place Auditorium
On Narrating Across Media
Metcalf Auditorium, RISD Museum
On Seeing and Unseeing
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New Space(s) Inauguration Symposium | Closing Keynote Conversation
4:30–5:30 pm
RISD Auditorium, Auditorium Building
Author, scholar and anti-racist activist Ibram X. Kendi and President Crystal Williams will discuss how art and design can help build an antiracist society.