The Speakers
FEATURED ALUMNI SPEAKERS
01
Kelly Walters MFA 15 GD
Founder & Creative Director, Bright Polka Dot
Expanding Your Practice Through
Design Writing & Publishing
Kelly Walters MFA 15 GD is a designer, educator and founder of the multidisciplinary design studio Bright Polka Dot. In her ongoing design research, she interrogates the complexities of identity formation, systems of value, and shared vernacular in and around Black visual culture.
After earning her MFA in Graphic Design from RISD, Kelly moved to California and taught at California College of the Arts as an AICAD Post-Graduate Teaching Fellow. She is the author of Black, Brown + Latinx Design Educators: Conversations on Design and Race (2021) and the Co-Editor and Creative Director of The Black Experience in Design (2022). Kelly now teaches at Parsons School of Design at The New School in New York.
Alexander Williams 06 FD
Co-Founder & Director of Growth, RBW
Using the Power of Light as a Force for Good
Alex Williams 06 FD is the founding partner and Director of Growth at RBW. He will speak about the company's journey and their continued focus on empowering RBW's communities while strengthening the health of the environment and preserving the planet for generations to come. RBW was founded and continues to grow with the guiding belief that business can make a positive impact on all stakeholders, including customers, employees, community, and the planet. In 2019, they received certification as a B-Corp - a new kind of company that balances profit with purpose.
RBW is an independent lighting designer and manufacturer founded in 2007 by RISD alumni Theo Richardson, Charles Brill, and Alexander Williams. Their fixtures, a favorite of designers David Rockwell and Yabu Pushelberg, are distinguished by their exclusive use of LEDs, as well as their warmth and simplicity of design. You can find their products in Copenhagen's renowned Noma restaurant, multiple Google campuses, and projects across residential, hospitality, and commercial sectors worldwide.
02
03
Qualeasha Wood 19 PR
Fine Artist
The Power of Audacity
Soon after graduating with a BFA in Printmaking from RISD, Qualeasha Wood 19 PR began taking the art world by force. Qualeasha has experienced extraordinary success and her work has been permanently collected by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and graced the cover of Art in America. She also became an Artist in Residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem among her many accomplishments since graduation. Her secret? It's the same thing that got her through RISD - having AUDACITY.
Qualeasha Wood is a textile artist based in Brooklyn, NY and Philadelphia, PA. She utilizes a range of traditional craft and contemporary digital materials to create intricate dialogues across time, and her work suggests realities around living in the black femme body that do and might exist.
The Talks
ATTEND THE WHOLE SERIES
October 3, 2022
7PM ET - Virtual
Expanding Your Practice Through Design Writing & Publishing
Presented by Kelly Walters MFA 15 GD
October 17, 2022
7PM ET - Virtual
Using the Power of Light as a Force for Good
Presented by Alexander T. Williams 06 FD
December 7, 2022
7PM ET - Virtual
The Power of Audacity
Presented by Qualeasha Wood 19 PR
Mindshare is presented by the RISD Career Center
Rhode Island School of Design
20 Washington Place
Providence, RI 02903
We educate and advise all students and alumni on how to effectively translate their education and creativity into fulfilling professional experiences. We do this with deep respect for individual differences and for each person’s unique aspirations and goals.
We created Mindshare to highlight the amazing stories of RISD alumni and their entrepreneurial journeys.
Image Courtesy © Bruce Damonte / Courtesy WORKac