Pursuing Her Dreams
Financial support catalyzes Shelby Bernard to expand her creative and career horizons.
“I was doodling in my notebook in high school biology class. My teacher saw and asked, ‘So, you want to go to RISD?’” recalls Shelby Bernard 20 ID. “I had not heard of RISD, but when I started to look at colleges, I realized that RISD was the best place for really invested, talented and hardworking students.”
“I needed and wanted rigor—and, boy, did I ever find it! I knew it would be very challenging,” she says. “I discovered how good my RISD peers were, and I found my people. I love how much we have in common. Whenever I leave campus, I’m faced with the fact that not everyone knows or appreciates what I do.”
Bernard receives the Talbot Rantoul Scholarship and the Fred M. Roddy Foundation Scholarship. “It is nice to know others believe in me and want to see me succeed. I don’t have as much pressure to take a specific job just to make enough money to pay my loans,” she says.
RISD also provided a travel grant for her to attend the winter session travel course See Naples and Die: Panorama & the Poetics of a City. “It was the experience of a lifetime,” she says.
While she appreciates the support from RISD, Bernard is committed to supporting herself as much as possible. She works as a residential assistant, a position that covers her housing and boarding costs. She also works in the Industrial Design model shop and does freelance graphic design to gain client experience.
“Last year I thought I might want to design toys and landed an internship at Hasbro as a model artist. Now I’m getting into storytelling, world building and brand experience design,” she says. “I’m good at cultivating a feeling and atmosphere. I create sets and three-dimensional computer models with industrial design tools. It is very exciting.”
This summer she worked for an advertising agency. “I collaborated with copywriters, did graphic design and learned more about the film industry,” says Bernard. “It was my first time working in New York City—something I’ve dreamed about since I was a little kid.”
“The greatest artists and designers can come from anywhere, but not everyone can come to RISD,” she concludes. “Those who support RISD are helping the best of the best be where they need to be, and we are grateful.”
