Rose B. Simpson to deliver keynote address

On Saturday, May 31, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) will award degrees to 496 undergraduate and 226 graduate students at its 142nd Commencement ceremony. Commencement 2025 will take place at 9 am ET at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in downtown Providence followed by a community reception in Market Square to toast the Class of 2025. For more information about RISD’s 2025 Commencement and to view the ceremony streaming live on May 31, visit here.  

Rose B. Simpson MFA 11 CR, whose work explores modes of empowerment and resilience that connect past and present, will deliver the keynote address. Multidisciplinary artist and MacArthur Fellow María Magdalena Campos-Pons and author and illustrator Grace Lin 96 IL will receive honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degrees. 

Reunion Weekend will be held May 29–June 1 in conjunction with Commencement Weekend. Reunion activities celebrate all things RISD while bringing the alumni community together and welcoming its newest members, the Class of 2025. Public events include the RISD Craft art sale and WaterFire lighting on May 31. Details are available here. 

Rose B. Simpson: keynote speaker and honorary degree recipient
Rose B. Simpson MFA 11 CR belongs to a long lineage of women from Khaʼpʼoe Ówîngeh (Santa Clara Pueblo) famous for producing blackware and redware pottery. Her work reflects on the multilayered history of her home in New Mexico, exploring modes of empowerment and resilience that connect past and present, express experience and identity, and contemplate freedom and strength. Her work is part of numerous museum collections and in 2024 was featured in the Whitney Biennial.    

María Magdalena Campos-Pons: honorary degree recipient
MacArthur Fellow María Magdalena Campos-Pons is a multidisciplinary artist exploring how memory, spirituality and identity are entangled with personal and collective histories across time and geographies. Her practice spans photography, performance, sculpture, drawing, painting and video, and has been presented in venues worldwide, often taking the form of richly layered, multimedia installations. She is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and currently serves as the Cornelius Vanderbilt Endowed Chair and Professor of Fine Arts at Vanderbilt University.

Grace Lin: honorary degree recipient
Grace Lin 96 IL is an award-winning, New York Times bestselling author/illustrator. Her book Where the Mountain Meets the Moon won a Newbery Honor, A Big Mooncake for Little Star earned a Caldecott Honor, and When the Sea Turned to Silver was a National Book Awards finalist. Lin was recognized by President Obama’s office as a Champion of Change for Asian American and Pacific Islander Art and Storytelling in 2016, and she earned a Children’s Literature Legacy Award in 2022.

A series of exhibitions leading up to Commencement will highlight new work produced by graduating students. Showcasing the work of grad students across 19 disciplines, Grad Show 2025 will be on view at the Rhode Island Convention Center from May 22–29. 

The work of seniors receiving undergraduate degrees will be featured by department throughout the spring semester in weekly shows at Woods-Gerry Gallery. Installation and work images are viewable online. 

Visit risd.edu to learn more.