"I see it as my job to figure out where each student is at and meet them where they are, and help them take their next giant step forward.” —Taleen Batalian, RISD CE instructor Join an adult course with Taleen this spring! Design I (online) Design II (online) Drawing Fundamentals [...]

Instructor Zachary Pelham began teaching with RISD Continuing Education in 2024 when he moved back to Massachusetts after spending several years in Chicago, attending graduate school and teaching at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Zach began teaching for RISD Pre-College, and now is an instructor for several CE adult and youth [...]

RISD Continuing Education instructor Jason LeClair began his journey with a single course in cartooning at 15 years old. More than two decades later, a colleague’s recommendation led to a position teaching Critical Studies in Art for the Pre-College program. Since then, this instructor has taught across multiple RISD CE programs, and will be [...]

Taylor Pate’s background as both an artist and an educator inspired her to be part of a program that encourages students to explore new ideas, take risks, and develop their own artistic voices. RISD CE stood out as a place where she could share her experiences while continuing to grow alongside her students. Her [...]

Meet RISD CE instructor Yikui (Coy) Gu. In his recent mixed-media autobiographical series, he layers paint, stock imagery and everyday objects. Through the combination of political, cultural and domestic imagery, he hopes to subvert the contemporary human condition through a Yellow lens. Gu's advice to emerging artists and anyone considering taking a course is [...]

"My Journey with RISD Continuing Education began when I completed a faculty swap with my lecturer position at the University of Washington. Charles was teaching at RISD CE but wanted to perform research activities I was performing at the UW. I wanted to switch my focus from engineering students to art and design students [...]

“My journey to becoming a RISD CE instructor began when I was asked if I could adapt my abstract painting class into an online format. Setting up asynchronous courses was a challenge because I had never filmed myself doing demonstrations before. In the classroom it’s easy to see if an exercise is getting across [...]

“I grew up in Providence and wanted nothing more than to attend RISD as a student, which I did as an undergraduate in the early 2000s. RISD really is a special world. When I was a student, I remember being immersed in this world–being physically located in Providence, but also as a portal into [...]

Get to know Matthew Manning, a RISD Continuing Education instructor for animation and stop-motion courses: Matthew started animating as a child with a Super 8 camera in his parent’s garage. He attended California State University Long Beach, where he studied radio/television/film and minored in speech communications. While working at the Museum of Tolerance as [...]

“My journey to RISD began when I set foot in the Nature Lab. I went on a tour when I was about 17 years old and knew I had to be a part of it! Little did I know what my future would hold—I would work there for four years as a student and [...]