Branch of prestigious Design School may be headed Downtown

[vicupstate]

Downtown Charlotte that is.  You didn't REALLY think this was going to Jax, did you !!!???

Wednesday, November 14, 2007 - 5:40 PM EST

Prominent design school eyes Charlotte campusCharlotte Business Journal - by Erik Spanberg Senior Staff Writer

The prestigious Rhode Island School of Design is considering opening a campus here, the Charlotte Business Journal has learned.

The campaign to land a commitment from the Providence, R.I.-based school began more than a year ago, say sources with knowledge of the talks. The campus would be a center city development coup that could match the successful pursuit of Johnson & Wales University five years ago.

Board members from Rhode Island School of Design, often referred to as RISD, have visited Charlotte and also have hosted Queen City leaders in Rhode Island during the past year.

Former Bank of America Corp. Chairman Hugh McColl Jr. is leading the recruiting effort with Charlotte Center City Partners.

The response has been enthusiastic, though a timeline for a decision remains uncertain.

"They are excited about the success of (Johnson & Wales), and they see Charlotte as an up-and-coming city," says one prominent uptown executive, who requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the discussions. "They move more slowly and cautiously, but they are interested."

RISD President Roger Mandle couldn't be reached for comment.

An expansion into Charlotte would mark the school's first move outside Providence.

RISD shares its hometown with Johnson & Wales' main campus. Johnson & Wales relocated its secondary campus to Charlotte from Charleston, S.C., in 2004, lured, in part, by discounted land and other incentives attached to the deal.

The school's campus at Gateway Village has grown to an enrollment of 2,500 students, with more expansion anticipated.

Launching a satellite campus would make sense for RISD as it attempts to broaden its reach beyond the renowned Providence school. Its current enrollment totals 1,900 undergraduates and 400 graduate students from the United States and 50 countries. The school employs 350 faculty and curators as well as 400 staff members.

RISD offers degree programs in architecture, design, fine arts and other disciplines. The college also has a museum that includes 80,000 works spanning French Impressionist paintings, Greek and Roman sculpture, ceramics, glass and contemporary art.

It's unclear whether a Charlotte campus could include a museum.

A prime location mentioned as a possible home for RISD here: the soon-to-be-vacated Mint Museum of Craft and Design at 220 N. Tryon St. The 55,000-square-foot building was donated to the museum by BofA (NYSE:BAC). The bank is in the process of re-acquiring the building for $10 million as part of the cultural arts campus deal that will relocate the Mint to a $1 billion Wachovia Corp. (NYSE:WB) development on South Tryon Street.

Local sources say the school's attractions are obvious and would add another key building block to uptown. The RISD recruiting effort comes as the city is investing in a new museum and theater campus on South Tryon Street, as well as the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Those attractions are slated to open in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

Leading art school heading uptown?
RICHARD MASCHAL
Charlotte officials are in talks with the Rhode Island School of Design about locating a branch of the prestigious art school uptown.
The president of the school has visited Charlotte three times, including once with the chairman of the board. School officials met with local leaders including retired banker Hugh McColl Jr. and Art Gallagher, president of Charlotte's Johnson & Wales University campus.

"It seems they were fairly serious," Gallagher said.

Consistently named one of the best art schools in the country, RISD boasts graduates such as glass artist Dale Chihuly and movie director Gus Van Sant. The Providence-based school has no branches now.

A Charlotte branch would boost the city's national profile and help it attract members of the "creative class" cities vie for.

"This is one of those rare opportunities to shape a community, to shape the type of job growth we've experienced, to attract and retain some of the most creative minds in the country and the world," said Michael Smith, president and CEO of Center City Partners, who has spearheaded the effort. "That's why we're excited about it."

Smith told the Observer on Wednesday that no incentives package is being discussed and no specific site is being looked at. He did say the building currently housing the Mint Museum of Craft + Design uptown -- which will be vacated when the craft museum moves to a new cultural campus on South Tryon Street -- is not a possible site.

"This is an ongoing economic development initiative we are leading with the support of a broad coalition of business leaders," Smith said.

RISD ("Riz-dee"), as it is popularly called, has a reputation as a cutting-edge school with programs in art, design and architecture.

The school also houses a museum that counts more than 80,000 works, from ancient Roman sculpture to contemporary art in glass, ceramics and wood.

RISD President Roger Mandle said Wednesday that talks are preliminary.

"We've made no representation of (a) program proposal to anyone in Charlotte yet," he said.

Mandle said he last visited Charlotte in September. On one trip, he was accompanied by the chairman of RISD's board of trustees, but Mandle said he hasn't had a chance to discuss the issue thoroughly with other board members.

Mandle said RISD has been approached over the years to expand into other areas, including Egypt, Singapore, Korea and a city in the southwest United States.

Any expansion, he said, would have to be "extraordinary and different" to suit that community's needs. "Whatever we did in Charlotte and elsewhere, we would really have to invent together."

McColl, a retired Bank of America chief executive, said he met with RISD officials.

"I think if they did come, it would be great for Charlotte," he said.

The last university that city leaders wooed to Charlotte was Johnson & Wales, best known for producing chefs. Its home campus is next to RISD in Providence, and Smith said Johnson & Wales officials have shared their good experience in Charlotte with RISD leaders. To lure the university, the city sold it 6 acres uptown for $1 million, even though it had been appraised at $7 million. And the state promised $10 million, which it only partially fulfilled.

"There will definitely be more to come" on RISD, Smith said. "We feel like it belongs in the center city and would be a nice complement to everything we're working on here."

Gee, I wonder what would have happened if Jax had spent those millions on a DT Law School, instead of a Seafood restaurant-turn-homeless-hangout.

[fsujax]

That was wrong....got me all excited, then a big let down.

[thelakelander]

You got my hopes up high with your title.  Some mention that you need a lot more than progressive city leaders and business community to create a vibrant core.  However, these types of moves are exactly what a community needs from its leaders.  All the grass roots efforts in the world won't end up in college campuses, corporations and cultural establishments relocating to the core.

One can only image if these guys were given our location, history, consolidated government and urban landscape to work with 10 years ago.  There's a good chance the courthouse would be built by now, the convention center would be undergoing an expansion, the Landing would have been expanded BEFORE the Super Bowl, while the farmer's market, FSU Medical School, FL Coastal School of Law would all be headed downtown and the thought of BRT would be nothing more than a bad nightmare.

[raheem942]

yea lets not play with peoples minds