Provocative Filmmaker John Waters Delivers Keynote Address at Rhode Island School of Design’s 2015 Commencement
May 30 2015 - 4:57PM
Business Wire
Waters accepts an honorary degree, as well as
writer Adam Gopnik and former Talking Heads members Chris Frantz,
Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison
This morning, 486 undergraduate and 183 graduate students from
Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) received their diplomas at
RISD’s 2015 Commencement. The ceremony took place at the Rhode
Island Convention Center in downtown Providence.
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Rhode Island School of Design President
Rosanne Somerson with commencement speaker and honorary degree
recipient John Waters, as well as honorary degree recipients writer
Adam Gopnik and former Talking Heads members Chris Frantz, Tina
Weymouth and Jerry Harrison. (Photo: Business Wire)
This year RISD presented five outstanding cultural leaders with
honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degrees. Influential filmmaker and
author John Waters accepted his first honorary degree
and delivered the Commencement keynote address. Author and New
Yorker staff writer Adam Gopnik and musicians Chris
Frantz (RISD ’74 Painting), Martina Weymouth (RISD ’74
Painting) and Jerry Harrison, all former members of the
breakthrough band Talking Heads, accepted honorary degrees at the
ceremony as well. In addition, painter Miriam Beerman (RISD
’45 Painting) was honored with the 2015 Alumni Award for Artistic
Achievement.
RISD’s exuberant Commencement ceremony offers a festive
culmination to years of creative exploration in the studio.
Students are encouraged to express their ideas, passions and
individuality by having fun with visually altering their
traditional black caps and gowns in any way they would like. To
watch RISD’s 2015 Commencement ceremony in full, visit
commencement.risd.edu. John Waters’ remarks are available at:
our.risd.edu.
About the 2015 RISD Commencement Honorees
John Waters, recognized as one of the most outrageous
filmmakers in America, has written and directed 16 movies, several
starring the actor Divine. In 2014 the Film Society of Lincoln
Center honored him with a 10-day retrospective entitled Fifty Years
of John Waters: How Much Can You Take?, screening such all-time
favorites as Pink Flamingos (1972), Polyester (1981), Hairspray
(1988), Cry-Baby (1990), Serial Mom (1991) and A Dirty Shame
(2004), among others. Waters has published a number of books and
screenplays, including the New York Times bestsellers Carsick
(2014) and Role Models (2010), and has shown his photographs and
sculptures in galleries throughout the world. A member of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Waters is a former
member of the board of The Andy Warhol Foundation and currently
serves on the boards for both the Maryland Film Festival and the
Provincetown International Film Festival.
Adam Gopnik, a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1986,
has contributed fiction, humor, book reviews and profiles to the
magazine, earning the National Magazine Award for Essays and
Criticism three times. He served as The New Yorker’s art critic
from 1987–95 before moving to Paris for five years and writing the
magazine’s Paris Journal. Those essays form the basis of his
well-received first book, Paris to the Moon (2000), which has
been followed by a series of others, including the “spectacularly
fine children’s novel” The King in the Window (2005). In
addition to his prolific writing, Gopnik is a much-admired speaker.
Among his top honors are the Canadian National Magazine Gold Medal
for arts writing, the George Polk Award for Magazine Reporting,
France’s medal of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters and an
honoris causa from McGill University, where he earned a BA in Art
History before completing graduate work at NYU’s Institute of Fine
Arts.
Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth co-wrote the hit
song Psycho Killer with David Byrne while they were still at RISD
but founded the band Talking Heads two years later, performing for
the first time in 1975. Jerry Harrison had played keyboards
in the seminal punk rock band The Modern Lovers before joining
Talking Heads in 1976. A year later, the band released its first
album, which was immediately hailed as a breakthrough. Talking
Heads went on to tour the world, record 10 albums and work with
Jonathan Demme in making Stop Making Sense, among the best concert
films of all time. Harrison has since released three solo albums,
produced recordings for such artists as the Violent Femmes, Foo
Fighters and No Doubt, and helped to define the online music
industry. In 2013 his film Take Me to the River won the SXSW
Audience Award and the Feature Film of the Festival Award at the
Raindance Film Festival in London. Frantz and Weymouth formed the
band Tom Tom Club in 1981, which led to their first gold record
through the hits Wordy Rappinghood and Genius of Love. They
continue to record and tour, and have embarked on a new electronic
music project. Frantz, Harrison and Weymouth were all inducted into
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002 for their work with Talking
Heads.
The 2015 Alumni Award for Artistic Achievement was also
presented at Commencement. Since accomplished painter Miriam
Beerman was unable to travel to Providence, her son accepted
the award on her behalf. Studying with the legendary RISD professor
and painter John Frazier (a graduate of the Class of 1912
and later, president of the college) instilled in Beerman a
lifelong love of abstract expressionism. During her 65-year career,
she embraced the “beauty and vigor” of painting as a means of
bearing witness to the injustices, atrocities and absurdities of
our times. An accomplished colorist, Beerman infused her organic,
layered canvases with a political and emotional intensity that is
often balanced by moments of comic relief. This spring a new film
is being released chronicling her life and work, which has been on
view in 32 solo shows – including one this year at the Wriston Art
Center in Appleton, WI. Beerman’s paintings are also represented in
the collections of the RISD Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
the Whitney Museum of American Art, the National Museum of Women in
the Arts and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, among many others.
About Rhode Island School of Design
Known as the leading college of art and design in the United
States, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) is ranked #1
in Business Insider’s survey of The World’s 25 Best Design
Schools. Approximately 2,450 students from around the world are
enrolled in full-time bachelor’s or master’s degree programs in a
choice of 19 majors. Students value RISD’s accomplished faculty of
artists and designers, the breadth of its specialized facilities
and its hands-on approach to studio-based learning. Required
courses in the liberal arts enrich the studio experience, equipping
graduates to make meaningful contributions to their communities.
Through their creative thinking and problem solving in a broad
range of fields, RISD’s 26,000 alumni exemplify the vital role
artists and designers play in fueling global
innovation. Founded in 1877, RISD (pronounced “RIZ-dee”) and
the RISD Museum help make Providence, RI among the most culturally
active and creative cities in the region. For more information,
visit risd.edu and our.risd.edu.
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Rhode Island School of DesignJaime Marland,
401-427-6954jmarland@risd.edu