2 minute read
‘Thriving in the undefined’
BY ALEXANDER CASTRO | Contributing Writer
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TO ALAINA MAHONEY – painter, blacksmith and welder of steel – few tropes are staler than the “starving artist.”
“Almost everyone I went to school with has a job in their field,” said Mahoney, who graduated with a painting degree from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2010. Rather than painting, she pursued metal fabrication, working for another shop before going solo and founding her own business, A.M. Design & Fabrication LLC, in Providence.
But even for the most-enterprising designers, there’s usually no quick and easy way to amass the knowledge and resources needed to grow. Mahoney, for instance, has run her design business for nearly five years, but until a few months ago she was still unsure how to execute an effective business strategy.
“I didn’t understand the impact to plan exactly what you want, to create actual steps with measurable metrics,” Mahoney said.
She understands now, having graduated from the 2020 Providence Design Catalyst. The program, run by nonprofit DESIGNxRI, offers competitive grants ranging from $10,000 to $20,000 to Providencebased design businesses with five or fewer employees. Winning designers spend a marathon five months together, attending a semester’s worth of classes and workshops on topics such as customer relations and branding. They also connect with business mentors. “The initial draw is, ‘OK, there’s money, great,’ ” Mahoney said candidly. Case in point: the grant bought her a shiny new air hammer, which has helped drive and develop the blacksmithing side of A.M. Design – a departure from the studio’s typical fabrication work, such as indoor and outdoor railings or ornamental work.
But Mahoney said that, “Over time, the more helpful side of the grant [is the education].”
The program offered a critical lifeline to its 2020 cohort during the COVID-19 pandemic, including funding to keep their small businesses going. It’s one of a host of local resources available to artists and others looking to make a career in design, including several college-based programs.
SHIFTING DEMAND
DESIGNxRI co-founder and Executive Director Lisa Carnevale said Rhode Island College offers a graphic design program and a jewelry design program, which supports industrial design backgrounds. Roger Williams University also offers an architectural design program, she said. The Bristol-based campus also recently opened a new engineering, computing and construction-management facility.
Rhode Island School of Design’s continuing-education program offers certificates in three design fields – graphic design, interactive design and interior design.
HEATING UP: Alaina Mahoney, left, of Providence-based A.M. Design & Fabrication LLC, works with assistant Erica Compton heating metal in a forge to hammer out a mirror frame for Mahoney’s upcoming product line release.
COURTESY RUE SAKAYAMA PHOTOGRAPHY
