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The Select Series Presents: The RISD Collection

The RISD Collection

TheSelectSeries.com is proud to announce curated Select Collections. Here's how it works. First, we invite a curator who is a leader in their field. That curator invites 4 artists who they feel best represent the collection's theme to design a tee shirt. First up: the RISD Collection, curated by Rhode Island School of Design President (and amazing artist) John Maeda.

After an open call for submissions and a request for suggestions by RISD alumni and students via his blog, Maeda assembled four RISD professors as artists for this project. He also chose the RISD Scholarship Fund as a charity to which we will be donating $15,000 of the collection's proceeds.

The tee shirts from the RISD Collection will be launched and celebrated in the same way a gallery show would be – with the shirts hung as pieces of fine art. They will be unveiled at an opening reception in the lobby of RISD's new Chace Center this Thursday, November 6 from 7 – 9PM. If you're in the area, we hope to see you out. Food, drinks and fun will be on hand!

Starting next Monday, the 4 tees will be available for purchase at TheSelectSeries.com and also on the RISD campus at the risd/works store.

There are more collections in the works, curated by talented and fantastic people within various fields of art. Keep your eyes peeled, and make sure to check out the new shirts Monday.

Don't forget, if you're in the RISD / Providence area, swing by our party this Thursday. We'll have TheSelectSeries.com gift certificate & Wacom Tablet raffles, plus Faesthetic magazine give-aways.

53 Comments

ISABOA
auteur
ISABOA
date
on nov 5, 2008
time
at 21:22:52

OH WOW!



awesome project

Maltzmania
auteur
Maltzmania
date
on nov 5, 2008
time
at 21:23:44

holy crap! Go threadless! Go RISD!

martiandrivein
auteur
martiandrivein
date
on nov 5, 2008
time
at 21:24:01

hot dang!

drmtama2
auteur
drmtama2
date
on nov 5, 2008
time
at 21:25:36

:)

Maltzmania
auteur
Maltzmania
date
on nov 5, 2008
time
at 21:26:32

oh man i wish there was more notice on this! I would've definitely gone down for the night!

Perudoesitbetterthanu
auteur
Perudoesitbetterthanu
date
on nov 5, 2008
time
at 21:27:56

awesome, i live in RI!!



maybe i'll hit it up.

shakethesheets
auteur
shakethesheets
date
on nov 5, 2008
time
at 21:28:59

Maltzmania on Nov 05 '08 at 9:26pm

oh man i wish there was more notice on this! I would've definitely gone down for the night!




agreed. still way cool, though!

upso
auteur
upso
date
on nov 5, 2008
time
at 21:29:53

rad! i'll be there. it's going to be fun!

NomadSlim
auteur
NomadSlim
date
on nov 5, 2008
time
at 21:30:21

awesome

ivejustquitsmoking
auteur
ivejustquitsmoking
date
on nov 5, 2008
time
at 21:31:57

sweet! nice news

bsweber
auteur
bsweber
date
on nov 5, 2008
time
at 21:42:30

so cool!



i totally commented on this earlier this afternoon, RIGHT BEFORE YOU DELETED IT

valorandvellum
auteur
valorandvellum
date
on nov 5, 2008
time
at 21:45:54

WHOA. Sweet!

Snowblowjob and the Freedom Train
auteur
Snowblowjob and the Freedom Train
date
on nov 5, 2008
time
at 21:47:26

silverqe
auteur
silverqe
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 00:16:17

O_O I go to RISD...

BlameTheSuburbs
auteur
BlameTheSuburbs
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 00:20:13

Man, doesn't RISD already get enough attention??? Seems like every illustrator or artist who is anybody has connections there.



Seriously though, should be a great set of shirts. Love to see Select line getting more ambitious.

upso
auteur
upso
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 07:02:16

:)

Steve The Great
auteur
Steve The Great
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 07:05:22

wat





risd?







booo

wullagaru
auteur
wullagaru
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 07:05:33

effing RISD ... never cared much for that school after i visited .. too stuck on tehm selves

Steve The Great
auteur
Steve The Great
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 07:06:09

high five, wulla!

squeegebeckenheim
auteur
squeegebeckenheim
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 12:04:49

Ahhhh that's such an awesome concept!

sonmi
auteur
sonmi
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 12:07:11

awesome!

chelly
auteur
chelly
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 12:14:12

so...this is the donations that have been hinted at for a while now, for giving back to the community?



please correct me, as this seems cool, i just want to understand it.



1. random school or whatever picked by upso

2. random school or whatever designs shirts/art

3. random school or whatever gets money from threadless

4. threadless prints shirts/art

5. random school or whatever displays shirts/art, general public can buy them (profit goes to random school or whatever)



???

upso
auteur
upso
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 13:56:10

hey chelly!



we invite a guest curator to pick 4 artists to work with

the guest curator also picks the theme for the series of 4 shirts

and finally, the guest curator picks a charity that we donate to



in this example the guest curator (John Maeda) picked faculty from RISD as the artists for his series, as well as RISD for the money to be donated to. Since there are so many RISD connections in this first series, it made sense for us to have the launch event on the RISD campus.



In future series, they wont necessarily have anything to do with a school (unless the guest curator chooses so)



Hope that makes sense!

I think you'll really dig some of the ones we have planned. :)

angelito
auteur
angelito
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 14:03:48

So this sounds wonderful :) :)

chelly
auteur
chelly
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 14:21:38

ok, thanks for clearing that up! the first selected "curator" really likes RISD, I guess.



i'll keep an eye out for new ones of these. :)

BaronVonMonkey
auteur
BaronVonMonkey
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 14:27:47

This is an amaaaaaaazing idea- love it!

ginetteginette
auteur
ginetteginette
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 14:31:32

does this mean there will be more select shirts out in general or are we still stuck with only one a week? i need more select!

upso
auteur
upso
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 14:32:14

1 a week for now, except during these curator weeks when it will be 4

:)

stubby43
auteur
stubby43
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 14:34:22

It just doesnt sit right with me that the 'charity' that the first curator gave money to is his own.



I'd really prefer the money going to charities like oxfam or the red cross.

ginetteginette
auteur
ginetteginette
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 14:38:17

it's not so far fetched that a design project as this should have a design related charity though.

NomadSlim
auteur
NomadSlim
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 14:41:07

Are there charities to promote art in underprivledged secondary schools? $15k is a lot of money going to a school that charges you your first born to attend.

stubby43
auteur
stubby43
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 14:50:13

It makes sense but I agree with Jason I'd rather it be going to the underprivledged I really dont want to the money to go to someone like my sister who doesnt need it.



We get more than enough help from our parents to get by.



A scholarship worries me because theres a possibility its going to go to someone who doesnt need it.



On the other hand if it was going to someone from a lower economic background then I'd be fine with it.



I want to know what the criteria for the scholarship will be.

ginetteginette
auteur
ginetteginette
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 14:56:18

I want to know what the criteria for the scholarship will be.



you're asking as if you have a say in deciding it, but this was one person's choice and it's been decided and it won't always involve a school. i agree though it would certainly be better if the scholarships are going to people who don't have the money to attend the school but overall i don't see it as a disappointment that the first charity is a design school.

BaronVonMonkey
auteur
BaronVonMonkey
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 15:03:20

Stubby, from what I' ve heard US uni fees are waaaaay more than UK ones, and a lot of students rely on scholarships to get by. But anyway, as Ginette says, the idea is that the curator chooses the charity, not you- when you're curating a line, you can donate to whomever you like ;)

stubby43
auteur
stubby43
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 15:06:33

I think we at least have a right to know where exactly our money is going and it is our money because its coming from the sales of tee shirts that we've bought.



From my point of view its going to a design school that I've never heard of (but from what people have said has the money to give out scholarships themselves), chosen by a prof at said school and the money could be going to anyone.



All I'm asking is a promise that it will go to someone who genuinely needs the money.





sonmi
auteur
sonmi
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 15:08:07

I think we at least have a right to know where exactly our money is going and it is our money because its coming from the sales of tee shirts that we've bought.



err, no, i don't believe you do have the right. you pay threadless so you get a shirt, and your business commitment ends there.

BaronVonMonkey
auteur
BaronVonMonkey
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 15:13:50

^What sonmi said. And anyway, what's the problem? Threadless is donating $15000 of it's own money (not yours), money that would normally just go to shareholders or whatever, and giving it to the furtherment of arts education- how is that not a good thing? You might think there are worthier causes, but that's not your choice to make. If you want to fund other charities, go right ahead, but don't criticise other people's choices of what to do with their own money

stubby43
auteur
stubby43
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 15:21:56

Whatever, I cant be bothered arguing we'll just say I'm an arsehole and be done with it.

sonmi
auteur
sonmi
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 15:26:33

heh. well. you're not an arsehole. it was just an incorrect statement. so goes it.

silverqe
auteur
silverqe
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 16:05:35

stubby43, I'm a RISD student and I would just like to say that our school charges an incredible amount of money for an art education (due to the reputation that comes with a RISD degree), and that John Maeda, the curator as well as the president of RISD, choosing to donate the Threadless money to scholarship funds for us poor starving artist students is a very noble cause indeed. Just because you've never heard of the school doesn't mean most of the entire art world hasn't. And yes, RISD really does charge your first born to go to school here.



Like sonmi said, you pay for a shirt, and seriously, your connection to your $18 or $25 really ends there. And for the record, Maeda isn't handing the money to the Paris Hilton Debauchery Fund. So don't worry about it. :P

seashellgigi
auteur
seashellgigi
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 18:27:17

go silverqe ;)



stubby43
auteur
stubby43
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 19:05:10

Your the one who choose to go to an expensive school if you cant afford it go to a cheaper one.

xiv
auteur
xiv
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 19:13:29

stubby43 on Nov 06 '08 at 7:05pm

Your the one who choose to go to an expensive school if you cant afford it go to a cheaper one.
...



stubby43 on Nov 06 '08 at 3:21pm

Whatever, I cant be bothered arguing we'll just say I'm an arsehole and be done with it.






Yay for more Select tees!

jess4002
auteur
jess4002
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 19:15:34

sweet!

stubby43
auteur
stubby43
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 19:23:59

I know, sorry I shouldnt rise to it, I'm tired, stressed out at work and someone who's supposed to be a friend is acting like a complete peen. I emediatly regreted posting that after I did it but obviously its too late.



Serriously I need a stupidity filter.



I think its great that threadless is giving money away to charity, its one more thing that makes it an amazing company but I honnestly think they got it wrong with this one. You can chew me up as much as you want but its not going to change my opinion.

jstumpenhorst
auteur
jstumpenhorst
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 19:33:06

this is a fantastic idea and i can't wait to see all of the fantastic art on shirts that comes out of this!!

FRICKINAWESOME
auteur
FRICKINAWESOME
date
on nov 6, 2008
time
at 19:35:39

This sounds pretty neat-o indeed!

Pizazz
auteur
Pizazz
date
on nov 11, 2008
time
at 17:15:11

wow, awesome! I loved that school when I visited.

producer
auteur
producer
date
on nov 11, 2008
time
at 18:01:17

i was there, it was sweeeeet

producer
auteur
producer
date
on nov 11, 2008
time
at 18:03:43

and all of you that are hating on RISD, stop being jealous and give props where props are deserved.

upso
auteur
upso
date
on nov 12, 2008
time
at 11:08:18

glad you had fun! i had a blast as well. :)

Jellyes
auteur
Jellyes
date
on nov 12, 2008
time
at 12:05:13

jellyes likes select shirts

maximus_br
auteur
maximus_br
date
on déc 8, 2008
time
at 19:19:05

maeda RULES!