RISD students and recent graduates combine art and design with sustainability and social justice in 2024 Maharam Fellowships.
RISD Students Introduced to Fine Arts Scene via Trek NYC
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“Having tangible access to community is often the most important factor in feeling a connection with other artists and a sense of agency about one’s career,” says RISD alum and Flux Factory board member Natalia Nakazawa 04 PT. “I hoped to give visiting students a glimpse into the alternative studio spaces, artist collectives and nonprofits that are thriving in the NYC area and offering opportunities for artists to create sustainable lives for themselves.”
Nakazawa is one of dozens of RISD alumni who helped to make this August’s Trek NYC event a meaningful experience for current students. Organized jointly by RISD Careers and the Alumni + Family Relations office, the privately funded program provides students with the opportunity to experience firsthand the professional fine arts world and creative culture of New York City.
“We’re so fortunate to have an ecosystem of opportunities that support our emerging fine artists,” says RISD Careers Director Kevin Jankowski 88 IL. “The whole team worked hard on this, but I’m particularly grateful to my colleague Susan Andersen and Elena Mendez Lewis and Dallas Pride in Alumni + Family Relations.”
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Fifteen grads and undergrads participated, visiting sites like Brooklyn Bridge Park, where they heard from designers at the Urban Arts Project who fabricated sculptures by RISD alum Huma Bhabha. They also visited the Whitney Museum of American Art and Socrates Sculpture Park and met with RISD alums working in various fine arts professions, including RISD Trustee Hillary Blumberg 92 FAV, creative consultant Cheryl Molnar 00 GD, Brooklyn-based event designer David Stark 91 PT, graphic designer Jie Jian 22 GD and Whitney Oldenburg MFA 15 PT, who currently serves as director of the Center for Career Development at the Cooper Union.
Grad student Tori Hong MFA 25 IL says that the Socrates Sculpture Park was her favorite part of the trip. “To see artists collaborate with the natural world in a place like New York City where it’s a concrete jungle and to see this sanctuary and how seriously they take their role in the NYC ecosystem was magical,” she says.
Students also participated in a portfolio review in which alums provided feedback on their work and reassured them that there is a place for them in the New York arts scene.
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“They walk out of that experience 10 inches taller,” says Pride, who sees the opportunity to speak with RISD alums as a vital component of the trip. “There’s nothing I can say that’s going to land as much as it would from an alum. This is someone who has been in their shoes and gone through a very similar process. Their feedback is worth its weight in gold.”
The students also visited the International Studio and Curatorial Program, 1969 Gallery, the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, Leslie Lohman Museum of Art and New York Foundation for the Arts. In each location, they were provided a behind-the-scenes view of the space and work.
Hong says the experience was exactly what she needed to bolster her spirits as she enters her last year at RISD. “I did end up shedding a few tears at the end of the program because of how deeply supported I felt by the community,” she says. “Trek NYC and the RISD network really helped me see that I can have a life as an artist in New York City.”
Kaylee Pugliese / top image: Carmen Winant’s “The last safe abortion” at the Whitney Museum
September 12, 2024
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