RISD Craft, a juried sale of alumni work, will be held outdoors on Providence’s historic Benefit Street Saturday, October 19, 2024, from 10 am-4 pm. RISD Craft is a testing ground for entrepreneurial efforts and new work. It also invites the local community to access that work, and directly interact with RISD artists & designers.

The jury will accept 90 RISD alumni vendors, chosen on the merit of their work. Particular emphasis will be placed on the quality, attention to detail, originality, and mastery of craft in a wide variety of media. Categories include: Apparel + Accessories, Ceramics, Fine Art, Furniture, Glass, Home Goods, Illustrated Books + Prints, Jewelry, Photography, Stationery + Paper Goods, Textiles.

ELIGIBILITY

You must be a RISD alumna/us to submit an application to participate in the show. Please note: Current students and 2024 graduates have a separate application process that will open in late summer 2024.

The goal of the RISD Craft jury is to showcase unique, sophisticated, and original work created by RISD alumni in all media. Work must be handmade or designed by alumni who have an active role in the creation of the work.

Failure to comply with the following terms & conditions will make you ineligible for future sales:

1. All work must be designed by you and/or made by hand, and not outsourced in an unethical way. You CANNOT sell items that have not been designed or made by you or your business unless it is sold in conjunction with an item you have made yourself and cannot be purchased separately. If any part of the work is produced for you or bought to incorporate into your work, you must describe this process in your statement.
2. Participants must be present at their booth for the duration of the show — you cannot pack up your booth early even if you sell out of inventory. Please plan accordingly to have ample work available. Assistants are allowed of course, but no representative may attend in place of the alumni artist.
3. Participants must have items for sale and take away during the sale: your booth cannot only consist of example items for pre-order. If you do sell items on pre-order, you must commit to honoring any time commitments and/or communicating delays directly with the customers. Customers contacting RISD to complain about missing orders and/or no responses from inquiries may result in ineligibility for future sales.
4. All work exhibited must be of the same body, quality, and category of work juried through digital images.
5. Participants must check out at the end of the day with your sales reconciliation, and follow proper permits and tax payments procedures. See our FAQ page for full explanation.
6. Food items may not be sold at RISD Craft.

APPLICATION

The application for jury consideration was open from April 1 – May 2 and it is free to apply.  Late applications will not be accepted.

Late applications will not be accepted because of the jury process. RISD alumni and faculty members, all working artists/designers in various fields, are invited to jury the sale for each cycle.

Remember that the jurors may be unfamiliar with your work and will make all of their assessments based on your submitted images and process statement. Images should be professional quality, and your statement should address your process in making the work, which is especially important if your products aren’t entirely made by you or by hand.

PORTFOLIO

You must upload five images of artwork through our application online. The work should be current and representative of the work you will bring to the show. Returning applicants are highly encouraged to submit new images of work. Images must be 300 dpi, and between 1400 and 4000 pixels on the longest side.

Please consider your photo submissions carefully. The images should convey to the jurors the craftsmanship, quality, originality, depth and breadth of your work. Non-detailed model shots may be great promotional images for your website or social media, but consider that the jurors might only fully comprehend the products they are voting on with a clear vision of the product. Avoid repetition of very similar works.

ACCEPTANCE

Email notification will be sent no later than June 5 for alumni applicants. There are a total of 90 alumni booths available. If accepted to the show, you will be prompted to submit further information when you pay for your booth.

A limited number of artists will be placed on a waitlist. To ensure that the show is as balanced as possible across the media categories, artists are pulled from the waitlist as space becomes available in their specific media category. For this reason, artists will not receive a waitlist number.

FEES

If accepted, booth fees to secure your participation are due by June 28, payable online only through our secure payment portal. The fee is $235. This fee can be broken into two equal installments, with the second installment due no later than July 22. Recent alumni from the classes of 2024 are eligible for a subsidized booth fee of $117.50 with payment due by September 6. Current students are eligible for a booth fee of $55 with payment due by September 30.

Those withdrawing from the sale will receive a full refund if requested in writing prior to July 22. After that date, there will be a refund of half the table fee if requested in writing before September 6. Booth fees will not be refunded after that date due to advance planning and promotion schedules. 

Booths are approximately 6-7 ft deep from the curb, and approximately 7-8 ft wide space on the street – directly adjacent to your neighbor’s space. Please keep this in mind when planning displays, and don’t use more than 7 ft of display materials to allow for some space between you and your neighbor. Each space comes equipped with one 6 ft. x 30 in. table and two folding chairs. In the event of very inclement weather, we will tent the entire street, limiting the booth depth to around 6 ft.

If accepted to the show, you will receive instructions on the paperwork necessary for a temporary sales permit for the State of Rhode Island Division of Taxation.

RULES & REGULATIONS

Participation in RISD Craft is a benefit offered exclusively to RISD alumni and students and is managed by the Office of Alumni + Family Relations. To support student activities and foster student/alumni interaction, participation in both the show and the sale is offered to RISD students.

By applying to RISD Craft you acknowledge and agree to the following conditions, and failure to comply with the following terms may make you ineligible for future sales:

• Only RISD degree program alumni may participate. Alumni must be present for the duration of the sale; sales representatives are not permitted. This is a RISD alumni event, and your presence is what makes this show special. 
• Participation is not transferable in any way. If you forgo your table, you cannot give it to other alumni. Please inform the alumni office and we will contact the next person on the waiting list.
• Works sold must be designed by and/or made by you, and not outsourced in an unethical way. Your work must comply with all applicable laws, including but not limited to copyright. 
• All work exhibited must be of the same body, quality, and category of work juried through digital images.
• Food products are not permitted, and music cannot be played by participants during the sale.
• Participants are required to check-in with our team before setting up, and check out at the end of the day.
• The sale of goods containing the RISD name, logo, or insignia is prohibited without RISD’s express consent.
• Participants accept all risks inherent to participation in the events, including but not limited to: inclement weather (rain, snow, wind, and other natural forces), uneven or slippery surfaces, lost, stolen, or damaged property. Alumni agree to accept responsibility to safeguard and protect their property from damage. RISD is in no way responsible for damaged property or resolving disputes over damaged property.
• Participants are required to limit displays to the allotted booth area, and displays cannot block another participant’s booth or the pedestrian aisle in any way. Personal tents are never allowed. Please be respectful of your neighbor! Contact RISD’s sale coordinator prior to the day of sale if you are unsure of what is allowed.
• RISD reserves the right to give away your table if you do not check in 60 minutes before the start time. Participants must check in at least 60 minutes prior to the start of the sale, or let the show coordinator know you are running late.
• Failure to show up without a reasonable explanation will automatically make you ineligible for the next two consecutive shows/sales.
• Participants must purchase and display appropriate sales permits for the day, as well as fill out the end-of-sale reconciliation worksheet and pay any taxes due (if applicable) when you check out at the end of the sale. Failure to do any of this will result in ineligibility for future sales. Please visit our dedicated webpage on taxes and retail sales permits with any questions.
• Alumni exhibitors are required to observe appropriate business practices and be aware of the rights of consumers.
• Participants are expected to communicate in a respectful and courteous manner with staff and other show participants. Failure to do so may result in future ineligibility. 
• Participants are not able to bring pets along for the day while a vendor at RISD Craft. 
• RISD reserves the right to exclude any alumni at the discretion of the Alumni Relations Office.