Inaugural Major Survey Show Helps RISD First-Years Select Majors

With spring semester looming, first-year students at RISD are getting ready to declare their majors. For some, the choice has been clear since childhood, but others may find themselves torn between two possibilities or unexpectedly drawn to a medium they began exploring during their Experimental and Foundation Studies year.

In the past, students were invited to formal departmental presentations to help them get a firm grasp on the decision. But this year, RISD is trying something new: an exhibition on view in the Gelman Gallery through January 28 called Major Survey Show that presents work from each of the 16 undergraduate majors at RISD and is intended to provide “a snapshot of the student experience and the inquiry that defines each program.”

“At RISD it’s usually best to present information visually,” says Head of Campus Exhibitions Mark Moscone 88 PR. “Students can see all of their options and get an idea of what to expect simply by walking through the gallery.” Moscone worked closely with Dean of Fine Arts Brooks Hagan MFA 02 TX, Dean of Architecture and Design John Caserta and department heads across campus to organize the show.

“Students can see all of their options and get an idea of what to expect [in each major] simply by walking through the gallery.”

Head of Campus Exhibitions Mark Moscone

Each department selected work by current students and recent alums that offers exhibition visitors a sense of its core focus, values and personality as well as wall text elaborating on its mission and curriculum. Some departments, including Printmaking, focused on process. Others, like Interior Architecture, highlighted material exploration.

“Industrial Design emphasized physical prototypes created with a variety of tools and materials,” says Caserta. “Graphic Design went with an idea, creating a wall of Instagram photos that represents the diversity of people, approaches and work produced in the department, rather than showing printed books and posters.” Recent Graphic Design alum Ian Keliher MFA 23 GD designed the graphic identity for the entire exhibition.

“The exhibition format really caters to people’s curiosity and opens channels they may not even have been aware of.”

Dean of Fine Arts Brooks Hagan

Caserta points out that first-year students also have the opportunity to explore mediums through Wintersession classes, but he sees the group effort to produce the exhibition as a useful experience in self-examination and building clarity about what is at the center of each department. “Department heads responded to a series of prompts,” he adds. “What’s the shared experience in the department? What are you excited to show to first-year students? What are you currently doing in your department that you want to do more of?”

Hagan says that the show would not have come together so seamlessly if it weren’t for the interest in the project from Dean of Experimental and Foundation Studies Joanne Stryker and the trust that Moscone has cultivated across campus. “Everyone loves working with Mark and knows that he will show their work to the very best possible effect,” he says. “The exhibition format really caters to people’s curiosity and opens channels they may not even have been aware of. It’s precisely this diversity of incredible creative disciplines that makes RISD so exceptional.”

Simone Solondz / images by Isabel Roberts
January 10, 2024