Filmmaker | Curator | Design Researcher
Crafting stories that explore our desire
to create is crucial to understanding
and connecting to one another.
Holly Gaboriault combines film, curation, and design research to highlight hidden histories and methodologies centered in the power of storytelling. Her film projects include producing and directing narratives that expand interdisciplinary dialogues among artists, designers, and creative scholars. With a BFA Illustration and MA Global Arts and Cultures from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), she has held positions as a designer, illustrator, creative director, curator, director of programming, and strategic storytelling consultant. From her studio practice, she has participated in national exhibitions, design publications, and created illustrations and textile paintings for a variety of spaces and clients.
Holly lectures in the Theory and History of Art and Design at RISD, is a member of the Summer@Brown faculty, and a 2023-24 Assistant Professor-in-Residence for the RISD Illustration Department. Her work integrates interdisciplinary tools for historical activation and reframing history with object-based research, artistic activism and curatorial investigation.
LECTURES + COURSES
BOARDS + COMMITTEES
AWARDS + FELLOWSHIPS
MFA Research Methods | History of Illustration | Visual Thinking,
Illustration Department, RISD
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Narrative Interventions: Hidden Histories in Museums + Archives,
Theory + History of Art + Design, RISD
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Fashion, Gender + Textiles in the Modern Age,
Summer@Brown, Brown University
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Female Forces: Hidden Histories of Women in Art + Design,
Theory + History of Art + Design, RISD
Summer@Brown, Brown University
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Global Modernisms | Critical Intro to History Of Architecture + Design
Theory + History of Art + Design, RISD
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* Currently active
Art League of Rhode Island
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Aurea Ensemble
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LitArts RI *
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Pawtucket Arts Collaborative
Providence Athenæum
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Providence Preservation Society
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Newport Art Museum
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Open Studios Pawtucket
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RI Council for the Humanities
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RI Historical Society
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RI State Council for the Arts
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RISD Graduate Alliance
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RISD Library Faculty Programming
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RISD Presidential Holistic Student
Wellness Initiative *
2022 - 2023
Faculty Research Fellow, Fleet Library
Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)
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​2020
Maharam Fellowship in Art + Design
2019 - 2020
Graduate Fellowship
Global Arts + Cultures, RISD
2020
Pedagogical Innovation Research Fellow,
RISD
Best Feature Film, 2016
Female Forces | RI Art Archive Project
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Best in Show, 2013
Pawtucket Foundation Awards
PANELIST
MODERATOR
SPEAKER
International Portfolio Day
Rhode Island School of Design
Mass College of Art and Design
School of the Museum of Fine Arts
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Alumni Speaker’s Series
Rhode Island School of Design
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DesignxRI SPARK Design Summit
The Wexford Innovation Center
“Female Forces: Women In RI Art”
Museum of Art, RISD
“Curation + Art In the 21st Century”
Bannister Gallery, Rhode Island College
“The Abstract in Realism | Three Artists"
Newport Art Museum
2021 Graduate Speaker’s Series
Graduate Studies Office
Rhode Island School of Design
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“Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché” with Pamela E. Green
Museum of Art, RISD
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“Interactive Spaces”
Alliance of Artists Communities
Museum of Art, RISD
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“Business & Creative Innovation”
Career Center Speaker Series, RISD
RI Art Archive Project Filmmaker + Artist panel
Museum of Art, RISD; Providence Art Club; Pawtucket Arts Collaborative; Warwick Museum of Art; Newport Art Museum
“Call & Response” Speaker Series
Newport Art Museum
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"Thesis Process + Storytelling”
Graduate Department
Rhode Island School of Design
“Programming: Catalyst + Tool”
RHODI Conversations
Rhode Island Historical Society
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“Helping History and Heritage Happen”
Rhode Island Historical Society
“Paper Dolls Project: Artists In Archives”
The Providence Athenæum
“Creative Impact Series”
Rhode Island State Council for the Arts
"Archiving and Artistic Practice”
Intercultural Student Engagement
Rhode Island School of Design
Collaborators + Partners
Publications
