Wednesday, September 16

12:00-7:30 PM

RISD | 20 Washington Place, Providence, RI 02903

The Long Table at RISD: A Public Studio for Community Exchange invites the greater Providence and Rhode Island community, including residents, community organizations, civic and government representatives, students, faculty, staff, alumni, industry collaborators, and external partners, into a participatory space for dialogue, drawing, mapping, and shared inquiry. Inspired by Lois Weaver’s Long Table methodology and Stephen Turk’s concept of “tabling ecologies,” the event is interpreted by RISD’s Center for Community Partnerships and Academic & Creative Partnerships as a relational design ecology: a place where ideas, questions, civic priorities, and possible collaborations can be made visible. As part of a day-long Design Day, the table will serve as a living archive and gathering point, helping participants surface connections and imagine what might continue beyond the event.

MODES OF PARTICIPATION AT THE TABLE

No Stages, No Keynotes
This is not a panel or presentation format. The table offers a shared place for exchange where many forms of knowledge, community, material, professional, civic, and academic, can enter into relation and exchange.

A Living, Tangible Archive
The tabletop will be covered in paper and activated throughout the day. Participants may write, sketch, map, diagram, or leave questions directly on the surface. What remains is not a transcript, but a visible record of shared inquiry.

Fluid Participation
You choose your own mode of engagement. Sit at the table to contribute, step back to listen, move between other Design Day activities, or return later to respond to what others have added.
Toward Future Partnerships

At the close of the day, participants will be invited to respond to one question: What should continue beyond this table? These responses will help form a public map of possible connections, collaborations, and next steps, collected and shared digitally as well as in a tangible form for future discussion and continuity of discovered connectivity.