At Rhode Island School of Design, you’ll join a creative project that started in 1877

Student crouching and working on a large yellow and green painting in a painting studio.
Wooden architectural model being thrown into sky by one hand.
View of RISD’s main building, 20 Washington Place, at dusk. Building is a mix of traditional brickwork and contemporary architectural elements.

RISD is a college and museum located in Providence, Rhode Island

Explore Our Programs
Online Info Sessions
Overhead shot of two hands placing blocks on a graphic wooden and painted architectural model.
Image of student dressed in black performing in a white studio space with a laptop, three microphones, two speakers. An orange sits next to the student.

An immersive, cross-disciplinary environment where making begins with a question

Undergraduate
Graduate
Continuing Education
Pre-Collegiate
Museum

We generate and challenge the ideas that shape our future

Meet our students
Meet our alumni
Painting by alum Jon Key of a Black man in a purple suit in fetal position against a red background. The suit is composed of geometric purple squares.
Alum Tanya Aguiñiga in a suit and mask made of flesh-toned neoprene, glass and metal, walking the length of the border wall in the southern US.
Michael Maltzan - Architectural rendering of the Sixth Street Bridge which is made up of a series of arches over the Los Angeles river.
Painting by alum Jon Key of a Black man in a purple suit in fetal position against a red background. The suit is composed of geometric purple squares.
Alum Tanya Aguiñiga in a suit and mask made of flesh-toned neoprene, glass and metal, walking the length of the border wall in the southern US.
Michael Maltzan - Architectural rendering of the Sixth Street Bridge which is made up of a series of arches over the Los Angeles river.
Resume motion

Upcoming events

Talking Heads on stage performing in 1984
7–9:30 pm  |  Feb 12
Stop Making Sense Screening and Q&A

Talking Heads Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth return to RISD, where it all began, to share behind-the-scenes details about the award-winning 1984 concert film.

talk announcement in rainbow colors
3–4:15 pm  |  Feb 15
Queering the Collection

Join museum educator Sam Nehila and Nacho Amor, executive director of GRID Gallery, for this gallery conversation focused on How artists and makers explore their identities.

black-and-white print of a Black woman sitting on a sofa
6:30–7:30 pm  |  Feb 18
Visiting Printmaker LaToya Hobbs

RISD welcomes the artist, educator and founding member of Black Women of Print, a collective whose vision is to make Black women printmakers visible.

See All Events

Civic Engagement and Conversation

Lifting Every Voice

Artists and designers play a key role in building more democratic and equitable societies. From events on campus to resources that support healthy discourse and ethical action, our civic engagement programs offer opportunities to listen, share and learn, and give us a deeper appreciation for how our community lives and experiences the world.

Learn about resources and programs

photo of risd banners across canal walk

Lifting Every Voice

Artists and designers play a key role in building more democratic and equitable societies. From events on campus to resources that support healthy discourse and ethical action, our civic engagement programs offer opportunities to listen, share and learn, and give us a deeper appreciation for how our community lives and experiences the world.

Learn about resources and programs

Latest stories

Hear more about RISD’s community of artists, designers and scholars.

Students work on a mural
RISD Students Create Colorful Murals for RI Philharmonic Music School

Students in an Illustration department Wintersession studio create music-inspired murals that bring local educational spaces to life.

hands reaching out to test consistency of mold
First-Year RISD Students Collaborate on Interactive Installation in Sculpture Studio

Offered through the Sculpture department, Immersive Worlds invites students to use experimentation and a plethora of making techniques to bring their ideas into reality.

student presents a small plywood-and-acrylic stool
Grad Student-Led RISD Studio Explores Designed Objects

Offered through the Furniture Design department, In Situ: Design in Context encourages experimentation and hands-on making as well as the use of digital tools.

tech Nat Luo holds up a sample of digitally printed fabric in the Mimaki print room
RISD Wintersession Course Introduces Students to Basic Elements of Textiles Design

Students use drawing, painting and collage to create repeating patterns reflecting their unique creative points of view.

a fully dressed man walking out into the sea
RISD Grants Support Artists and Designers Working in the Arena of Forced Displacement

Faculty members Sara Jordenö and Pouya Ahmadi and alum Nina Martinez view forced migration through unique lenses and present radical and creative interventions.

faculty member Max Pratt throws a sample-collecting bucket into the Blackstone River
New RISD Seminar Created as Part of Research Partnership with Hyundai Motor Group

Students in an interdisciplinary fall course learn to observe the living world in search of design strategies grounded in planetary health.

see more stories

Thank you to all of the artists and designers whose work is featured here. From top to bottom: Bhen Allen MFA 22 PT (photo by Jo Sittenfeld MFA 08 PH), Alexander Kern BArch 21, photo of 20 Washington Place by Bruce Damonte, Kaori Yasunaga 21 FAV, Kunyue Qi BArch 21 & Jen Chenyu Zhang BArch 21, Qihang Li 20 PR, Meredith Binnette 20 FAV, Miguel Enrique Lastra MFA 22 CR, Jon Key 13 GD, Nickole Klarou 21 FAV, Tanya Aguiñiga MFA 05 FD (photo by Gina Clyne), Jackie Oh 22 AP/FAV, Michael Maltzan BArch 85 (image courtesy of Michael Maltzan Architecture), Julia Chien 22 FAV.