Rise Wilson // Moore BFA Convocation

Moore College

Convocation speaker Risë Wilson, Director of Philanthropy for the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation in New York City, told students that all change begins with a vision – personal change and “large-scale pattern breaking” change. Solutions emerge “from critical and creative thinking.” “The ability to think this way is a skill…you have the capacity…” she said. “How do you foster visionary thinking? You make art and become a change maker.” Referencing her work with The Laundromat Project - a project she founded which brings socially relevant and socially engaged arts programming to laundromats in neighborhoods – Wilson said it’s important to bring art to where people already are. “I’ve learned that making art in your own backyard is a deceptively simple act,” she said. “There is power in applying art in your own community.” She told students that over the next two to four years they should ask themselves: What am I ready to tackle? How can I remain gentle with myself? How can I milk every minute of my education at Moore? “You are about to locate your voice and claim it and use it for the rest of your life,” she said. “You are a woman armed with the skills to change the world.”