Right now it’s just talk, and Rhode Island School of Design officials are quick to say it may never go farther than that.
RISD administrators have been meeting with officials from Charlotte, N.C., to explore the possibility of the Providence-based arts and design school expanding to that city. But when that news broke in the Charlotte newspapers on Nov. 16, the school emphasized that the discussions were just preliminary.
And some observers have since noted that the school faces several barriers to an expansion ever becoming reality, including the pending retirement of President Roger Mandle at the end of the academic year. RISD has acknowledged that Mandle has played a leading role in the talks with Charlotte officials.
RISD spokeswoman Jaime Marland said Mandle and other school officials have visited Charlotte three times to meet Charlotte Center City Partners, an organization that promotes the city’s central business district.
Former Bank of America executive Hugh McColl Jr. is reportedly playing a part in the effort to coax RISD to Charlotte.
“The talks are too preliminary to provide any details as to the form a prospective relationship might take, as we’ve made no representation of a program proposal as of yet,” Marland said on Nov. 16. “If the ideas move beyond the exploratory phase, we’ll be able to provide more details on any plans.”
When reached last week, officials at Charlotte Center City Partners declined to comment, referring all questions to RISD.
An expansion into Charlotte wouldn’t be the first for a Providence-based college. Johnson & Wales University opened a campus in the city in 2004, wooed by municipal officials offering economic incentives. As part of the move to Charlotte, the university relocated a campus from Charleston, S.C. Art Gallagher, president of the Johnson & Wales’ Charlotte campus, is also on the board of the Charlotte Center City Partners.
The Johnson & Wales Charlotte campus, which started with an enrollment of about 1,000 students, now has more than 2,500.
But unlike Johnson & Wales – which also has satellite campuses in Denver and North Miami, Fla. – RISD, founded in 1877, has never expanded beyond its Providence base.
While school administrators are giving some thought to establishing a presence in Charlotte, the school is in the midst of constructing the Chace Center, an ambitious $46 million project that will expand the RISD Museum and provide new academic and community spaces as well. The building, designed by architect José Rafael Moneo, is the largest undertaking by RISD in years. •
