So there was more than a little anxiety when John Maeda — sneaker designer, MIT professor, digital media rock star — took over as RISD president last summer.

Would the canvas yield to the computer? Would the easel give way to the electron? Would the cross-trainer supplant Cézanne?

A year later, it seems clear that the traditionalists have little to fear. Indeed, Maeda seems more enamored these days of what he calls "dirty hands" — the filthy work of ceramics or furniture-making — than of any high-tech pursuit.

"People don't want technology anymore," he said, in a recent interview. "They want humanity again."

But if Maeda, 42, has a healthy appreciation for the old, he is undoubtedly of the new. He blogs. Tweets. Presides over an "open-source administration" that encourages online critique.

Full Story: Brave new RISD Source: The Phoenix, May 27th, 2009 Author: David Scharfenberg Added on May 28th, 2009 at 2:24 pm, by Matt Mikula