Robert Brinkerhoff Email & Phone Number

I am an illustrator, painter and academic.At RISD:I have served many leadership roles at the College since 1996, including seven years as Illustration Department Head, Chair of the Department Heads Meetings, and Chair of the Faculty Steering Committee/Faculty Meetings. From 2017-2020 I was RISD's Dean of Fine Arts, overseeing a studio division of the College consisting of ten departments: Ceramics, Film/Animation/Video, Glass, Illustration, Jewelry + Metalsmithing, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture and Textiles. In July 2020, I completed my three-year term as Dean and returned to full-time teaching in Illustration.Most recently I concluded work as Graduate Program Director for RISD’s new MFA in Illustration, launching in fall 2022. My curriculum development—for both RISD and other institutions—explores the intersection of illustration, design, writing, semiotics, social justice, literature and narrative theory, as well as studio engagement which transcends arbitrary boundaries in fine arts. I am committed to both practical and theoretical concerns in the development of young artists and designers in both my teaching and professional activity.Professional Pursuits:My career has included work with major corporations and institutions of higher learning including MIT, Brown University and Brandeis University, and regional and national magazines and businesses—small and large. From 2011-2017 I was the illustrator for Annenberg VUE: Voices in Urban Education, published by The Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University.Broader Reach:I have been awarded artist residencies, including several in the US, Ireland and Italy. From 2007-2009 I served as Chief Critic for RISD's European Honors Program in Rome and was a Fine Arts Faculty Mentor for the Salama Foundation's Emerging Artists Fellowship in the UAE, helping shape a studio residency program for young Emirati artists. In service to the illustration profession I was Education Chair for ICON7: The Illustration Conference, and ICON8's Vice-President from 2010-2014. In 2015 RISD hosted the Illustration Research Symposium: Illustrator as Public Intellectual, under my co-leadership and organization.

Listed skills include Illustration, Art, Illustrator, Painting, and 45 others.

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  Virginia Commonwealth University

  Visual Communication